Post-Trip Report: Chris’ Disney Wish Come True (April 2026)

[00:00:11] Welcome to Where I Long To Be, a Magical Trip Report Podcast. My name is Virginia and I am your host. Thank you to everyone for checking in on me and for commiserating with my kidney stone incident. I really have been feeling good the past couple of days, which is a relief, but it felt really great to know how many of you care. You are the best listeners a girl could hope for.

[00:00:31] I am officially in the less than 30 days until my own next magical trip timeframe and I am getting so excited. Does anyone else have the issue when a trip is on the horizon when you start to think of all the things you need before a trip? Like suddenly I'm throwing things into my shopping cart online and truthfully, I could just throw things into a bag today and be ready because I'm always ready for a trip. But I started to think of all the other little things that I would like to have and one thing leads to another and suddenly I've spent a pretty penny before I've even left

[00:01:00] on my trip. Is it just me? I hope not. If it's you too and you have any new finds that are too good to pass up and you want to share your recommendations, I will take them and be happy to share them with listeners. And now let's get into this week's post-trip report. If you didn't get a chance to listen to the pre-trip report, Chris, his wife Chrissy and their son Vinny were heading out on their very first Disney cruise. They have cruised before but this time their wish came true and they sailed on the Disney wish.

[00:01:30] This cruise was bookended by one night at All-Star Sports and two nights at Coronado Springs. That should be all you need to know to be caught up. Please welcome back, Chris. Welcome back, Chris. Thank you for having me back. This is always so exciting to talk Disney. It is always exciting to talk Disney. I'm sorry we weren't able to cruise right into your post-trip interview, but both of our schedules, here we are a month later.

[00:01:57] So I'm hoping that you will still be fresh on everything. I know you have all of your stuff in front of you. So hopefully you remember and it's a good time remembering. Yeah, for a first sailing, I definitely, it will be something I never forget. Every day I wake up and I think about it. Let's dive right in then. So you did one night at All-Star Sports before you went on this cruise.

[00:02:22] So let's talk about that. Sunday, April 12th was the day you headed out of Reagan National Airport at the crack of dawn. Yep, very early. Scheduled to get in around 9 a.m. at MCO. So how was your flight? Flight was good. We had actually, normally I drive and park at the airport, but this time we scheduled an Uber to come pick us up because it was like four o'clock in the morning.

[00:02:47] I didn't want to pay for parking for seven days. So that all worked out actually very nicely. We got to the airport with plenty of time. There were no issues with TSA and the flight down was perfect. Everybody was happy and we were probably on property by 10.30, 11 maybe. It was pretty quick. Yeah, I, you know, being in New York City, I generally will schedule a Lyft over to the airport and I don't know if Uber is the same way.

[00:03:16] So maybe you can tell me, but when you schedule a Lyft to the airport, because you're going to an airport, they have a guarantee that they will pick you up on time. And if they are late, they owe you $100. Oh, well, next time I'm going to schedule a Lyft. I don't know if Uber has that kind of, there is a guarantee, you know, that there was, but they didn't, I didn't say anything about getting $100 if they were late. But luckily our person was on time.

[00:03:40] Yeah. I mean, the catch to that is, and it says right there when you, when you book it basically is that they will not sit around and wait long for you. So like, whereas when you normally call a car, there's a little bit of a grace period there for you to get out of where your house, your building, whatever. Right. And with this, you have five minutes. And if you're not down there in five minutes, then, you know, it's, you don't get anything. Right.

[00:04:06] All right. So you were also going to be taking Uber over to All Star Sports and I did not write it down, but can you help me remember, have you stayed at All Star Sports before? No, we haven't. We stayed, my wife and I stayed when we were not husband and wife. We went with a group of friends a long time ago and stayed at All Star Movies. Mm-hmm. So we've never stayed at All Star Sports, but I feel like you stay at one All Star, you stay at them all. Sure. Hey now, you're an All Star.

[00:04:36] Exactly. In this case, get your game on because it's All Star Sports. Yeah. So which section of All Star Sports were you put into? We, luckily we got a preferred room through our travel agent. We didn't originally book that, but then one of those discounts, something came up and she emailed us right away and was like, I got you a better deal. I saved you $9 and you're in a preferred room. I was like, okay, great. Perfect. Perfect.

[00:05:03] So we were in the football rooms, I guess. Mm-hmm. We had a room on the first floor relatively close to the main building and very close to the playground, which was great for our six-year-old. He really liked that. We originally thought that the main pool was going to be closed because everything that was online said that it was closed for refurbishment and that it would open sometime in, you know, in 2026. And it opened?

[00:05:33] I don't know if it opened on the day we got there or maybe it was open the day before, but it was open. So that was great. We were prepared to go somewhere to go to one of the other pools or to the smaller pools. So we were able to enjoy that, which was great.

[00:05:45] Yeah, with All-Stars, because they are all kind of close together and they're what I would refer to as sister resorts, sort of like yacht and beach or sister or brother resorts, I imagine that you do have some flexibility about pool hopping, which you don't usually have among other Disney resorts. Yeah. You can go to the other pools at the other All-Stars.

[00:06:07] There is, at All-Stars Sports, there was the main big pool and then there was a smaller pool over by the baseball area, which wasn't too far from us either. So there was a pool on, there was a pool on property, but it was good to have the big like surf's up pool. Right. Yeah. I was there the first week in May for the second time staying at All-Star Sports. And I have yet to go over and take a look at that smaller pool. So I have no idea what it looks like.

[00:06:36] On the map, it looks quite a bit smaller. Yeah, it is. But it's a nice little, it's very cool in the, that like it's like a baseball diamond. So it's beautiful over there. Oh, okay. That is cool. Okay. Follow-up question to your travel, because I just noticed here in my notes that you had told me about an inflatable booster seat. So I want to know about that. How did it work out? Yeah, it worked out great. We're still using it. We just got back from an unrelated not Disney trip and we used it because we had rented a car.

[00:07:07] And it worked out great. Once it was inflated, we were able to get it into the Uber relatively easily. It was a little harder at four o'clock in the morning in the complete darkness, but it worked out great. My son likes it. He sits in it. It really, it just like lifts him up high enough so that the regular seatbelt can work. And then there's some other strap that goes on to help like move it away from his neck. But it does work.

[00:07:32] And it, and it, and it keeps him contained and safe and everything. And we didn't have any issues with it. Perfect. We were able to deflate it. And then when we were done, we didn't need it. Right. We were able to deflate it to put it in the suitcase to put on a plane. So it all worked out great. And just for listeners, a reminder, Vinny is six. So we're not talking about a toddler here. Correct. This is a slightly older child who still needs a booster in most situations. And the laws in Florida are different than they are in other states.

[00:08:00] We do have a full, this is a full, full-fledged car seat. Now we, my wife did a lot of research and it seemed perfectly acceptable for travel. We also have a friend that uses one up here because they don't have a car and they take a lot of Ubers for their kids. Oh yeah. That makes sense. Came on recommendation. Technical question about this inflatable booster seat. Do you have to inflate it manually or does it come with some sort of pump? You do inflate it manually.

[00:08:30] There was some kind of tube, but it didn't, it didn't seem like it was, you needed a lot. Okay. There must be enough padding, enough padding in there. You just sort of. Okay. It didn't take my, I didn't inflate it. My wife did. So I can't have, I cannot, I cannot tell you exactly how difficult it was, but no, it was an inflatable. There was like a tube. Okay. I'm just imagining like passing out, trying to get this thing ready to go.

[00:08:54] I don't think it, you know, I don't, it didn't take as long as you would think in the, in a situation to, to inflate it. Okay. I'm going to ask if you can, please send me the link to it so that I can put that in the show notes for anybody who is looking for something like that. All right. All right. Let's move into the rest of this arrival day. I have in my notes that you planned to grab breakfast, do some pool time if you could. And specifically you had wanted to also do some pin trading. Yeah.

[00:09:24] So we got there, we were obviously hungry. We got some food at the food court relatively quickly because our room wasn't ready, of course. Of course. Not at that time of the morning. No. Of course though, once we got the food and sat down, there it was, there it was, it was ready. So we did get it relatively early, which is great. So we got some food and then we went and got to the room, had the bags brought over, hung out.

[00:09:49] And then immediately Vinny wanted to go in the pool and do all that. So we, we did, we went in the pool. We hung out there for a bit until about lunchtime. And we decided to go over to the boardwalk area for lunch, the Epcot boardwalk area, take a bus. I think we took a bus over to, well, we took a bus to Hollywood Studios. And then we took a, the Skyliner over to the Epcot entrance and then took a boat over to boardwalk.

[00:10:19] So we really did all of the things. Oh, wow. You're like, we're getting every form of transportation, a plane, a car. Yes. A bus, a Skyliner and a boat all in one day within the span of probably five hours. That's, that's very true. The only thing we're missing was the monorail and we didn't have that that day. But we do, I love, I love the transportation. That's probably one of my favorite things. So we, we, we definitely wanted to prioritize that. My wife wanted to go over to the boardwalk because she loves that area. Yeah.

[00:10:48] But what, what we didn't realize in the poor planning of this one, it was the, as we kept saying, the heat of the day. It was extremely hot and there wasn't much open for lunch over there. And so, cause it's, you know, it's more of a nighttime place. So the, all that stuff kind of opens up like at four o'clock. The only options that we had, we tried to get into cake bake shop that didn't, obviously we didn't make a reservation in advance. So we didn't get in there.

[00:11:14] We ended up eating the blue corn dog plate, which, which we, which we wanted to try to have like the corn dog stand there with, but it was just hot. It was all fried. We ate. It was fine. We found some shade like outside of Abracadabra and, uh, we made it work, but we have made mental notes. Boardwalk for lunch, unless you have a reservation somewhere. Uh, it doesn't seem as appealing in the, in the, in the, um, in the heat of the day.

[00:11:42] Did you check and see if there were any spots available at Beaches and Cream? That was also not available. Yeah. We tried that. It was, you know, it was, you know, we, we, we accepted the fact that, um, we didn't do some very good planning that day, but it was okay. We ate, we ate, we did some shopping at the boardwalk stores and, um, ended up heading back, uh, to the resort so that Vinny could do some more swimming.

[00:12:10] We could rest and all that stuff before we had to head out. So yeah, um, we'd stop by the store at All-Star Sports and picked up, looked at the pin stuff there. Did some, there's a pin trading board in the store. There was one in the food court. So we took a look at those. Um, and that was, that was, that was fun. We did that at boardwalk, but there wasn't as much in the stores there. Mm-hmm. And it was just so hot, you know, when it, that's one of the things, it's like when the

[00:12:38] weather hits, all bets are off for me. It's like, we're so hot. Everyone's, he's cranky. I'm cranky. Let's just go back and try and, um, you know, just, just not wear ourselves out before we get on the cruise. So that's what we do. Right. Did you end up doing anything that evening for dinner off of All-Star Sports property, or did you go back to the food court? We went back to the food court, you know, I have to say it was nice and clean. It was cold. It was very convenient.

[00:13:08] You know, they have all the traditional fare that you want and even some like rice bowls and things. So it worked out for us. We got something little and then Vinny wanted to go back in the pool. They were also showing a movie, uh, under the stars that night out down at the, the, um, baseball pool. Um, and it was cars. Vinny loves the movie cars. So we went and watched that before he went. Okay.

[00:13:32] What time the next day did you have to be up for the bus over to your Disney cruise? I think it was, the bus was picking us up around 9 15, I believe. Um, I will say this is one area where the community, the, um, the pre cruise communication could have been better in my humble opinion. I had to keep, I had to ask a lot of questions from like guest services, the front desk, the,

[00:14:00] the, you know, I had to figure out, it wasn't very clear if we should leave our luggage. They were very clear that the luggage was going to be picked up at like seven o'clock in the morning. But I didn't know if that meant I needed to leave it outside my door, which didn't make too much sense. Or if they were going to knock on the door, I'm just that kind of person that likes to have all those little questions answered. Right. So I kept having to call, get those questions answered. We never got our luggage tags in the mail. Apparently this is a Disney cruise line thing. It's like 50, 50, whether or not you get your luggage tags in the mail.

[00:14:29] It's really not that big of a deal because they did, they do have them. They had them at bell services. I was able to pick them up, write our names on them. And even if we didn't have them there, I guess somebody would have dealt with it when we got to the port. For a, for a person that likes to like plan and make sure, leave no stone unturned. That was the things that really burned in my brain. It's like, I wish, you know, just, you know, cause I just want to know whatever I'm supposed to do. So the luggage, they picked up the luggage.

[00:14:57] They were going to pick up the luggage at seven from the room, which was great. We didn't have to, we didn't have to wheel it over to the big, um, building. And then the bus, we lined up about, uh, 915 with all the other people that were, um, leaving from all-star sports to go on, on our cruise, which was kind of fun. Okay. How was the bus ride over there? Uh, how long did it take to get to the port? There was no traffic. I know the bus was just one of those simple, Vinny was hoping that it was going to be that

[00:15:26] Disney Cruise Line bus, like, you know, overlay on the bus, the wrap of it was just normal. I don't know. I mean, that's part of the fun. I agree. It was just a regular coach bus that would pick you up, you know, for a field trip or something, but, you know, it was Disney, it was Disney Cruise Line staffers that were there. They all wanted to see our passports and everything before we got on the bus. They checked us all in, in the lobby, which was great. And, yeah, there was no trouble with the bus.

[00:15:54] It took about 45 minutes, I would say, not very long. I think I took a nap most of that trip. They have some cartoons and things that are playing on the screens, but it's just, yeah, it was a good, it was a nice 45 minute nap to help you get ready for the day. So it was very easy. Okay. All right. So you were hopping on this cruise on Monday, April the 13th, and you disembarked on Friday, April the 17th, and cruises can be somewhat challenging to talk about because it's not

[00:16:23] as regimented as going to a park is. So I'm just going to maybe talk about some things in categories and then you can tell me what you want to tell me. And if you want to hop back to anything, you can. So I wrote down that you all were excited about seeing some of the shows on the ship. So how were those? And did you make it to all of them? Oh, that's so funny. The best laid plans is all I would say.

[00:16:49] We did see the, well, one we saw, we, we did find a spot to do the whole sail away party thing. That was great. I had to prioritize that. I wanted to hear those horns. That was like the moment I, you know, I would definitely say don't miss it. Even if you can't be like in the front row, as long as you're out there on the deck and you can hear that what's going on, that was great. So definitely don't miss the sail away party, especially for your first cruise ever. On Disney. Then later that night, I think it was that night.

[00:17:19] I don't know if it was the first night or not. I don't, I think it was. It was, they have like a, um, um, Disney C S E A S the adventure. And it's sort of like a little review musical where, um, they have a bunch of Disney, you know, classic Disney songs that, that they go through. The characters are involved. The plot is like goofy has a dream of being a captain and it all works out in the end. Um, but it was very cool. That was great.

[00:17:48] And it was one of those, like, it was a nice start to the, to the cruise. The production value was like, I definitely, definitely felt very Broadway. It was, it was really, really good. That was the only stage show we saw. They did have Aladdin on board and little mermaid, but though that didn't, they did not happen. It did not happen in our, uh, in our cruise. Um, yeah, we'll take the time. I'll, I'll say this.

[00:18:15] One of the things that we experienced was Disney cruise line does not populate the app with what is going on, on the ship every day until you connect to the ship's wifi. You can do that when you get to the terminal, to the port. But my experience on other cruise lines is you do get all that information a couple days beforehand and so you can take some time to figure out what you want to do each day. You know, if you know you're going to have dinner at a certain time, you know, here's

[00:18:44] this so that you can start to put your schedule together. Um, and not having that, I think kind of sending us in blind a little bit. Then it was like overwhelming with all of the options that we had to do and trying to factor in when Vinny might want to do the kids club and he wasn't really like excited about the shows. So if he was, I think that would have been one thing, but he was like not excited. So we saw the one show and nothing was.

[00:19:11] I mean, if you're going to pick from the shows that they had and your choices were Aladdin, Little Mermaid and something that was original for a ship, I would choose the one that I can't see anywhere else. That is how we felt too. We were like, we already know what happens in the other one. And so as much, you know, as nice as they would have been, I don't, I didn't necessarily feel like I was missing out on it.

[00:19:37] So if it, if it had been, I will say if it had been Hercules, which they have on, I think one of the other ones, I would have made a different story for sure. Yeah. Well, Hercules, you know, is not something that's playing on Broadway right now. It is also, I don't think touring. I did see a production of it at the Paper Mill Playhouse, which is right across the way in New Jersey and is basically Broadway because all of the people just go out there to work. And so it's really good quality shows. And I saw the production of Hercules there and I really thought it was going to transfer to Broadway.

[00:20:07] And I think it's in the West End in London right now. Yeah. I'm not sure if it's the same production. Like, is it the same staging, that sort of thing? I'm not sure. I'd have to look at it. I would recognize it if I saw it because I remember, what is his little sidekick's name? The... The goat? I think it's a goat. Phil? Phil? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:20:34] He wears like a tracksuit, like an Adidas tracksuit in the production I saw. Now, maybe the costumes have changed. That makes sense. Anyway. Anyway, it was cute. And it was really, obviously, most fun to see the muses because they were amazing. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. You mentioned the kids club. So did Vinny head off to the kids club? Did he love it? And what were some of the things he enjoyed there? Yeah. He... One of the...

[00:21:02] On your first day when you get on, they have an open house so you can go in and one, you need to... You do need to go in and register him. So, you know, they have all of our information, his information, etc., etc. So, we do that on the first day. We can go in with him to go see everything and show, you know. Otherwise, your parents... You know, there's gates and things. Your parents are not allowed back there. No adults except for the staff, which is great. You know, nice and secure.

[00:21:32] So, we did do that and he was sort of, you know, he's a little shy and so he gets nervous about things like that. But I will say, ultimately, you know, we made some deals, we dropped him off and then once he got to experience it himself, he did end up liking it and wanting to go back. I think he was most excited about... Every time we would say, what'd you do? He goes, oh, I just did screens. I just did screens. You know, like a tablet or something. You know, because, you know, we try not to do too many... He has tablets and things. But we...

[00:22:02] Of course, we try to, like, limit it when we can. He's like, oh, I'm just gonna play with screens. Did you play with anybody else? Did you learn anybody's name? Yeah, yeah. Some people. Uh-huh. Yeah. I mean, they had all kinds of activities. You know, they have different types of rooms. There was a Star Wars area, a Marvel area. There was a simulator, like a ride simulator where you can sort of build your own roller coaster

[00:22:27] and then you sit in the little car and they have these screens around you so it looks like you're kind of on the roller coaster. And then the staff are constantly putting on it. Anytime we went to go pick him up, they were doing some kind of activity or something in, like, their main area. So he did end up liking it. There was, you know, a couple times where he had... He'd asked to go, you know, he said, I don't want to... Can I just go back? You know, can I just do that? And then, of course, the times where we wanted him to go, he wasn't interested. So...

[00:22:56] But, yeah, I mean, he did like it. It... I believe that I don't think anybody holds a candle to Disney when it comes to, like, entertaining children and, you know, making parents feel comfortable to leave their kids there. And it was so... I don't think anybody holds a candle to it. I think he enjoyed it. He... I think, you know, when we go and do another one of these, he will probably want to do it more. Interestingly enough, they have kids clubs on their islands.

[00:23:25] So that's not something that, like, Royal Caribbean doesn't have that. I don't think Norwegian has that. They don't... So you can go to the... So the days that you're at the lookout... Lookout key or castaway key, you can actually leave your kid at the kids club on the island. Mm-hmm. Which I think is cool because then there's some... You can have adult-only time on the island. Of course, Vinny was not interested in doing any of the island time. And he wanted to be with mom and dad, so... Which was fine. But it is there.

[00:23:55] And, like, they're open from, like, 11 to 2. They will also feed them lunch on the island. That's something that they don't do on the ship. On the ship, you know, you gotta feed your own kid. But on the island, they will feed them. Okay. Because it's over that lunchtime, period. Yeah. But he wasn't interested in doing that. Well, you mentioned castaway key and lookout point. Your cruise went to both locations. Mm-hmm. So can you maybe do some comparing and contrasting and what your experience were with both? So, yeah.

[00:24:24] After our first night, the itinerary was castaway key, lookout key, and then a day at sea. So we were, you know, it was just a four-night cruise. We were back-to-back with everything. Castaway key was, you know, is the OG island. It definitely, it feels like Disney. It's, it's, there's, we only, I think, scratched the surface of what there is to do. We picked a place to plop down and that was it. You know, we just stayed there.

[00:24:52] It's very, you know, it's all kind of lagoons. So there's no waves or anything. Very different from lookout key. So it's just very chill. Very, the water is, you know, beautiful. Good access to the, to food and everything is clean. And it was just, it was great. We didn't, we didn't go over to any of the splash pads for Vinny or anything like that. He was just focused on hanging out, playing with the sand, playing in the water. So castaway was great.

[00:25:18] The food was some typical barbecue fare and we didn't really do too much exploring other than we were there for a good part of the day. You get in pretty early and they think you're there until about four o'clock. So if you want, you can spend the whole day there, but we were probably back on the ship by 2.33 o'clock. So then there's lookout key at lighthouse point. Um, it's a very long name. It's just castaway key at nothing. And then lookout key at lighthouse point. I feel like we should shorten that.

[00:25:48] Like LKLP. Okay. Yeah, sure. Yeah. Um, this, this is the newer Island. It's really, it's actually, it's on another Bahamian Island, but, and it's like a portion of it sort of like Labadee on Haiti. It's not an actual, it's just a portion of a larger Island, completely private and completely away from everything. But I think castaway key is its own Island. And when you get off the boat, this is the people you've probably seen pictures of this

[00:26:18] online or video, the long pier that Disney built specifically because they did not want to, they did not want to mess with the wildlife and the coral that is close to the shore. And so they built this long pier all the way out where the boat, where the ship docks. And then you have to walk all the, you know, all the way up to the Island, to the, to the, yeah, to the Island. We'll just, it's the Island. Sorry. And, um, that walk from the boat, from the ship, when you're looking at it, it looks very intimidating.

[00:26:47] I wasn't, look, that was one thing I wasn't looking forward to. I didn't know how, how that was going to go. You know, there's no cover. It's just, you're exposed to the sun and you're sent off. And it actually wasn't that bad. Um, you know, a steady pace and, uh, some water along the way. There was, um, uh, you know, it really honestly didn't, wasn't that bad. It was very breezy. You made it there. They did have wagons available if you wanted to like put your stuff in it or your child and pull them along.

[00:27:16] And then, you know, for guests that do have medical issues, mobility issues, what have you, they do have carts that you can wait for request. But of course, you know, Disney prefers, you know, just if you really need it, it's there. Otherwise it's not being offered as an option, you know, for everybody. Mm-hmm. And then once you get there to the island itself, you have to actually get on a tram. Castaway Cay also has a tram to take you to the different areas, but you have no choice.

[00:27:44] Once you get to the, uh, end of the pier, you have to get on a tram and take about a seven minute tram ride to get over to all of the different areas that Lookout Cay has. And this is much more like a beach. Much more like you're on the ocean. There are, you know, the waves are crashing on the, up on the sand. You know, just like on the Jersey shore or some, you know, beach, you know, in Florida. Very different. I say that because I got beat up by some coral.

[00:28:10] I was in the water, just walking along, and all of a sudden, I'm in coral. And my leg was like, God, I, you know, for a moment there, I was like, woohoo, this is, I'm like, I was, I was legitimately a little terrified. But of course you get out and I'm like, I mean, it wasn't that bad. There was some, there was, you know, there was a couple of scrapes, but, you know, I was like, I'm done. I'm done with the water. I'm going to go. I went and, um, that happened.

[00:28:37] I mean, it happened about an hour and a half, two hours into my time there. So it wasn't that bad, but. So that's giving me a clue that maybe it's not super clear water. Yeah, it's definitely, you know, it's got the sand in it. It's, it's not that. Yeah, it, it definitely, it, you know, we're both from New York. It definitely gave me like the Rockaways kind of feel like. Got it. Like it was definitely ocean water. Mm-hmm.

[00:29:04] And, um, it wasn't that, that kind of glass, glassy water that you, that you do have a cast away key where it's more chill. The water's calm. You're really just kind of in a pool. Um, and there's fish swimming around. This was definitely a beach kind of set up. And it was, it was nice. It was beautiful. But it, you know, it's, it's different. You got to be careful about riptides and, you know, the water's moving in and out. And I'm sure, you know, on some, some days when the water is really rough, you know, maybe

[00:29:33] there's, they have restrictions and things. Mm-hmm. Okay. Same food set up there. After my run in with the coral, I went and found a smoothie bar somewhere and just sat there and waited until Chrissy and Vinny were done. Mm-hmm. So, yeah. And of course there's merchandise everywhere. There's, there's Castaway Key specific merchandise, Lookout Key specific merchandise, specific pins. So I did pick up some island pins.

[00:29:59] Lookout Key is, has a lot more cultural Bahamian, Bahamanian like, you know, shops and things there too that they don't necessarily have at Castaway Key. So there's a little more culture from the area built into the island, which was purposefully done, which is nice. What is your preference between the two? The coral really is going to be in the back of my mind. A darn coral.

[00:30:24] I think I prefer, I think when I go back to, when we go back to Castaway Key, I want to give that a full like indulgence of it. Cause I, I do like that type of water environment. I love being in the water, but I do like it when I can just sort of just sit and the fish are swimming around you and I don't have to worry about waves and things like that. So I think my preference would be Castaway, but Lookout is very beautiful. I mean, it is, they are very different.

[00:30:53] So, you know, if you haven't, if we have them both on your itinerary, you will, they will not feel the same. You should go to both because they're very different. Okay. All right. Let's talk pirate night. I know that Chrissy had bought some pirate things and you had a special Roosevelt shirt that you had managed to acquire. So how was that? Yeah. Pirate night is, so they have a special menu on pirate night, whatever restaurant that you were eating in that evening, it doesn't have that normal menu.

[00:31:22] Everybody has the same menu. There are some folks that are not so hot on the pirate night menu. I think I would include myself in that. It's a little more when I think pirate, I think simple. So I was expecting chicken tenders, fried chicken, burger. I don't know, something just like a turkey leg. I don't know something. And instead it was very seafood based. And there was a lot more of exotic flavors that if, especially for the kids, like if you're just not, or picky adults.

[00:31:52] Yeah. I could definitely see why people are like, I don't know what's going on with this menu, but you know, we went, we got through it. There were two, I would say there's two pirate shows that they do. There's one that they do on the, on the, the, the, the deck that have, that involves Mickey and Minnie and all that. And then there's another show that they do later, which is when they also do the fireworks that there's more of a, uh, it's like a rock band, some kind of pirate rock band.

[00:32:20] Captain Jack Sparrow makes an appearance and then they, they do the fireworks. We skipped the first show with the characters. There's we, cause we had late dining, so there's like the early seating at like 530 and then there's a late seating at 815. We were doing the late dining. Spoiler alert. I don't think we would do that again. Okay. So, so that I think precluded us from the early show, but we have, we made it for the late show.

[00:32:47] Then he was not interested in, um, at this point doing, um, the fireworks. He was, uh, he just wanted to go to the kids club. So we let him do that. Although he specifically asked us to videotape the fireworks for him. So we did that. Um, and we were able to go up to the adults only area of the ship and get, get a nice little spot along with the railing there and enjoy the fireworks. And we did, I put on my Roosevelt shirt and Chrissy put on her little costume and there were lots of people dressed up and, you know, our mateys and all that stuff.

[00:33:17] It was, uh, you know, I could do, do with, do with or without pirate nights. Not, not a necessity for me, but it was cute. Well, I think that Disney has other options as far as themed nights go. So hopefully the next time you're on a ship, maybe you'll have a different option. All right. Let's talk about dining. Yes. So they, um, you know, Disney Cruise Line does this rotational dining. So depending on what ship you're on, they'll have, you'll have different restaurants. Sometimes you'll have the same.

[00:33:43] On The Wish we had, um, 1923, which was akin to, you know, Walt and Roy Disney. Very like Art Deco classic, uh, theming. They have a lot of like artifacts and drawings from early Disney films and just very like dark and classy. Then there's World of Marvel, which is, there's a Marvel show and there's lots of screens around you and Ant-Man and the Wasp are involved.

[00:34:12] And then there are these quantum bibbidi-boops on your table. And wait, was that the technical term? Bibbidi-boops? I don't remember what they're called. They're, they're like quantum tubes. And you had to interact with them when he told you, you had to interact with them when I'm doing air quotes, interact with them when he told you to. Spider-Man makes him, he bops around at some point. And then the third, the third restaurant was Arendelle, which is all a frozen. And there's a show and they have a stage and there's people singing and Olaf makes an appearance.

[00:34:42] I would say World of Marvel was not good. I thought that the food wasn't that great. If you read the internet, which I, you know, people, people really shouldn't do that. But if they, if you do, the internet says that the Disney Cruise Line food is not necessarily, the food is not the best. Okay. I would mostly agree with that. I felt that the food at the restaurants was actually not as good as the food at the buffet or the quick service restaurants.

[00:35:11] But World of Marvel was at the bottom of the list. I, I didn't really like the food. The, the whole premise of it, you know, it's just screens. It was just videos. You know, Ant-Man would tell you to do something. You play with the gobbledygook on the table and then, you know, Spider-Man makes a weird appearance and the cast members walking around with them being like, Spider-Man's coming. If you want to take a video, you should turn your videos on now because he can't talk to you. He can't take it. He's not, he has no time for pictures, no time for signatures. Mm-hmm. So that was that. 1923.

[00:35:41] 1923. We actually had on the first night and I think that just suffered from being the first night place. Okay. The food was good. It was your typical, we, I think we had steaks and it was all good. And the dining staff was very nice and was very attentive to us and to Vinny. You know, we got a picture with the head waiter at the end of our cruise because he was so nice to Vinny and just, you know, messing around with him and stuff like that. Your dining team, your wait staff travels with you to each of the restaurants.

[00:36:10] So you sit at the same number table, you have the same waiters. And so that's nice that you do at least get that even though you're moving around. The Arendelle was people. Again, the internet says it's not so good. I disagree. Arendelle was fantastic. I'm so glad. I wish I could have eaten there every night. The food was really good. I thought that the show was fantastic. It just, it felt that felt like Disney.

[00:36:36] It felt like we were, you could take that experience, put it in the, put it in the park somewhere and it would, it was just like that. Everything was, it was perfect. It was, the food was great. The ambiance was great. The show was excellent. You know, people, it was this, because you know, you know the songs, everyone's singing and everyone's, it was just that group dynamic of like having a good time. And, you know, Vinny really enjoyed it too. And they have Anna and Elsa come around to the tables.

[00:37:06] Olaf is rolled around. And that to me was the pinnacle of like, when you think of a Disney cruise, this is what you're getting and that's why you're going. Because it was, it was, it was that good, you know? Yeah. It had me, it had me like, it had the same emotional effect as watching Happily Ever After, you know, fireworks. It was that good. It was so good. Oh, wow. Okay. And then outside of the, outside of the rotational dining, the Mickey's Festival of Foods, which

[00:37:35] is like their quick service. All of that was so good. Everything there was delicious. And like I said, I think even better than, than the dining rooms. We tried room service one night. That was great. And the buffet was great too. Okay. Also related to dining, you had said that you were going to try for a last minute Palo brunch. And I don't know if you tried for that. We tried on the first, that was one of the first things we did when we got on the ship.

[00:38:01] When we got on the ship, we, you know, um, we went over to the dining reservation people and tried to see if there was any possibility of that, but there wasn't. They put us on a wait list, but I never heard anything. Okay. And from what I understand, it's really just based on your Castaway Club status. Sure. So you, because we were, we'd never sailed before. We didn't have any status. You know, when we sail again, we'll be silver. And that means you can book that stuff earlier.

[00:38:27] So the better your status, the earlier you can book, the better chance you have at getting the reservation. So we didn't, we didn't get it. And that, you know, that was fine. How did you feel about the accommodations? Was your room satisfactory for the needs of your family? I think we were very spoiled by going, there's a lot of talk about whether or not our first cruising is on, was on the wish, which is one of their newest ships. So it's got all the bells and whistles. The room, you know, has the split bathroom with the toilet in one room and the tub in

[00:38:57] another, both of them having sinks. That was great. The, the, just the whole room was just, it was just great. Everything was great. It was perfect. They're nice and spacious. I think no more cramped than any other, you know, balcony statewide. We did, we did have a balcony on this trip. You know, I could take it or leave it. I don't, it was nice to have, but I don't, I don't think it's necessary. I like it cold anyway. So when you don't have a balcony, it stays nice and cold in the room. Everything was great.

[00:39:27] They have an actual, instead of normally you having a sort of a beverage cooler. I still think they call it a beverage cooler, but it was a drawer. So you pulled it out from the thing and it was like all built into the, to the desk. You pull it out and you sort of drop things into it instead of having the traditional fridge style, which was cool. Um, the, our stateroom attendant asked if we wanted, because the room can actually sleep

[00:39:56] four, two in the bed and then one on the couch. And then there's a pull down bunk. And she gave us the option of whether or not Vinny wanted to be on the couch or on the pull down bunk bed. And he of course was like, I want the bunk bed. So that was nice. One of the cool, one of the things, one of the things I think is really great about Disney Cruise Line is they do two service, like two, they do a night evening turndown.

[00:40:21] So you have your room, you know, will be cleaned in the middle of the, you know, sometime after in the morning. And then they will turn down your room for sleep. So the bed, the Vinny's bed that would be up in the ceiling, they would put that up in the ceiling until it was time for, you know, time to go to sleep, which is great because then they will come in and change out towels if you need to, or make your bed. And, you know, so that is something that they don't do on other ships, other cruise lines, which I think is a nice touch.

[00:40:49] And then there's always a towel animal and some candy and the service was just great. Yeah. Okay. Fantastic. I think that's all the categories that I wanted to ask about. So is there anything that you haven't yet shared about this cruise portion of your vacation that you wanted to share? Yeah. Yeah. The activities. We've done a lot of cruising and we love trivia and all of the games and stuff that they do. And so we really tried to take advantage of that as much as possible when Vinny was in

[00:41:18] the kids club or where he came with us. So we actually, one of the things I really wanted to do was win a trivia contest because on Disney cruise line, they give you a plastic little rubber metal. I'm happy to say that we did win one. We won cars trivia and our son knew all of the answers. So we actually had to go to like, you know, a bonus round against some other team, two other teams. And we, we ended up pulling it out.

[00:41:44] So we, I was so, thank you very much. Thank you so much. It was, that was like a highlight. I would say we, we got those medals and it was just, so all the activities were great. Um, there's like karaoke, there's trivia with music, Disney songs, not to mention like all kinds of other things, you know, drawing classes, tastings you can do, you know, for adults. It was just, there was just a lot to do on board, which was, and we really took advantage of that.

[00:42:14] They also have, they will do first run movies. So we, at the time we went, hoppers had just come out. And so we were able to watch hoppers on the ship. So that was fun. We did watch that. Admittedly, I did fall asleep in the middle of it, not because of the movie, but because it was just a dark room. It was a dark room and I was in a comfortable chair and, uh, took advantage of that. Um, so that was actually cool. Vinny liked that.

[00:42:43] We all, I mean, it was, that's just something special, you know. Um, and if you, they were all, they were playing that before it came out in theater. So if you were on the ship even prior to that, you, you were kind of getting your first look at it. Um, the other thing we did was, um, we went to a Disney Vacation Club, um, presentation. No, you did not. Oh my gosh. We did.

[00:43:08] And we did end up signing up for DVC on the boat. Oh my God, Chris. Wow. Way to keep a secret from me. I was going to bury the lead on that one so we can get pure reaction. That's amazing. Welcome to the family. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. It was, it was not something I was thinking about doing. I mean, I was, I, we've been thinking about doing it.

[00:43:35] When we got on the ship, I saw on the app that there was a, there was a presentation. So we were like, okay, why don't we just go? We know that though, and then I think they were offering like $50 credit on your account. You know, it was like, Oh, why don't we just go? We've never done a presentation before. You know, we, we, you know, so let's just do it. We go in. We're like one of, we are one couple and there were, there was another couple and another singular person. By the end of the presentation, we were the only people left in the room.

[00:44:05] Um, it's like, you know, uh, they were like, Oh, do you want to sign up and talk to us? I'm like, okay, fine. We'll do that. And of course, you know, it just, it spiraled from there. It spiraled. I did receive a, something in my email just prior to sailing from, we have the Disney visa and they were doing some kind of promotion that caught my eye. That was like, I don't even honestly remember what it was. Some kind of promotion that was like, I don't know if it was, um, some kind of discount.

[00:44:35] I don't know how you can get a discount on DVC, but there was some kind of deal that they were running, but only for Disney visa holders and only until the end of April. And so I was like, I at least want to find out what is this deal? What is this about? And then of course we get in there and he starts talking about, Oh, well, there's this thing called magical beginnings where you can, uh, turn in the points that you would get for 2025 and we'll write you a check, which would basically cover your down payment.

[00:45:04] Why wouldn't you sign up? So that sold it for me. You know, I was like, as long as you, as long as this monthly number works for me, why not? So I didn't expect to sign up on the boat, but we did. I went in not thinking I was going to buy a DVC either and walked out with a contract and have not regretted it. I love it. How many points did you get? And what is your home resort? You got 150 points at Riviera. Oh, Riviera. Nice.

[00:45:34] Well, they were only, so this is another interesting thing. We could probably talk about DVC for hours, but I didn't realize, I went in there being like, Oh, I'm just going to get the cheapest option. What are your, what are the point values at, uh, you know, old key West? Well, Disney, they only sell the newest properties. So you can't actually buy direct from Disney. So at the older properties, you can actually, but you have to, maybe not through them. You have to, you, well, you can have to be willing to wait for it, which is why you

[00:46:04] wouldn't have been able to necessarily do it like on the ship. So if you are interested, because there are, there are benefits to buying direct with Disney. Yes. And then you can get contracts on the resale market that limit some of your benefits, but you save a lot of money. So you have to determine, and I, of course I know all this after the fact, after I, after I became a member, but you have to really wait. Does the cost savings mean more to you?

[00:46:32] Or does being a full member where you can do all of the perks, which includes things like having access to sign up for the moonlight magic parties, being able to use your points at the seven month market, any of the Disney resorts, that sort of thing. You just have to kind of weigh that out. So if you are interested in say a contract from old key West or from Saratoga Springs or one of these older properties, you can say, I would really like to buy direct from Disney.

[00:47:02] But I'm specifically interested in the Polynesian or I'm specifically interested in Wilderness Lodge or whatever. When what they do is they have this thing called right of first refusal, which means that if somebody is going to sell their contract, they have to first go through Disney, like whatever agency that they're working with would need to reach out to Disney to say, hey, these folks are going to sell their contract for X number of dollars per point.

[00:47:32] And this whatever use here it is, it's like you have the right to refuse this. Are you going to refuse it or can we move forward with the sale? And if Disney refuses it, what it means is that Disney will pay whatever price that you were going to sell it for, but they'll buy it back from you. And so if they do that, that's how they receive a contract back that then they can turn around and sell it direct from Disney. And of course, they mark the price back up. You're paying the direct Disney price.

[00:48:01] So you can do it like if you're dead set on buying from directly from Disney and you're dead set on an older resort, you can make it happen. You just have to be clear. Like, this is what I want. I will do this. But only if you get it, you know, for these different conditions. Well, the salesman did their sales job. And so, you know, I definitely wanted we knew we wanted to buy direct because we wanted the benefits. And so we were in my mind.

[00:48:28] I said this, you know, it was really interesting doing it on the cruise. I will say you're kind of trapped. Right. So, you know, they know where you live. They can find your room. And I said, you know, I said to him, this number, this monthly number is the number that is most important to me. Like, as long as this number, you know, works for us, then we will then. Yes. And you've got a new you've got a sale, you know, whatever happens, you know, in the future, like, you know, like you said, if we want to do something, if we want to add contracts

[00:48:57] or whatever, that's up to us. But we're direct with Disney for this one. So we get the point. We get the perks and whatever happens down the road happens down the road. Yeah. And I think some of the bigger perks to me, because like being able to sign up for Moonlight Magic is nice. I have done it before and it's it's fun. That being said, you have to be planning to go to Disney at the time that they're offering that. And if you don't already have a reservation, it becomes very competitive to get a reservation at the time at the party. So then you qualify to go to the party.

[00:49:27] The member lounges. It's cool to know that I have a lounge. I can go to a Magic Kingdom or Epcot or if I'm out at Disneyland. But it's not worth the additional price for that per se, because, you know, it's a space to hang out. You might get some little bags of Cheez-Its or whatever and, you know, some unlimited soda while you're sitting there enjoying the space. The biggest perks I would say are that I can get a discounted annual pass, which is amazing.

[00:49:56] And then the dining discounts and the shopping discounts on a regular basis, because that does include when they do sales for annual pass holders. So like when I went in the first week of May with Jeanette and we stayed at All-Star Sports, All-Star Sports is affordable to begin with. But we got like 40% off because I had a discount. So, yeah. You said it.

[00:50:26] The merch discounts, the dining discounts, and being an out-of-state person, the ability to... And they're saying, they are saying, they being... I don't know who they is, but reports are out there that Disney is strongly considering, you know, within the next 12 months, 6 to 12 months, lowering the price of the annual pass. And if they did that, assuming that nothing changes with the way that the DVC discount works, that makes it even cheaper. Which... Yeah.

[00:50:56] That's what I'm waiting for. The minute they announce that, if that discount is still available to get that second level down, we're done. We're doing it. And there's no question. And also, like, it would kind of... I mean, I would probably still buy the same level annual pass that I have just because I like how few restrictions there are on it. Like, the two weeks of the year, I think, that are blackout dates or the two times of the year... Or not times that I would be traveling anyway.

[00:51:24] But it would be nice, I think, for flexibility for people if there were, like, two levels of DVC discounted annual passes you could get. Like, one with more restrictions on it for somebody who just would like to save a little bit more money and doesn't necessarily have to go most of the weeks of the year. That'd be cool. I would even take DVC members being allowed a payment plan. Oh, gosh. Yes. Right? Yeah. Like, you could make it the normal price. But, you know, let us have a little piece of the apple there.

[00:51:54] Yeah. But yeah, so... Especially, like, when you're buying for your whole family. Like, it'd be different if I was just buying one for myself. But, you know, every summer, it's like, three annual passes, please. So we don't have them yet, but we're waiting to see. We'll see. Yeah. Well, congratulations. One foot in the door. So I buried the lead on that one. I'm so excited for you. You're going to really enjoy it. I think so. We haven't made our... We haven't made our first reservation yet. Well... Mm-hmm. Because we have another trip coming up in July. Mm-hmm. So that we already have booked.

[00:52:23] So we have not... Well, here's my question. Did you close on your contract before the end of the cruise? Or did that happen after the fact? Oh, no. It happened after. It took... Okay. It took... It took 30 days or whatever it was. Okay. In fact, on the bus ride back to the resort, we were signing... Oh, wow. It's like... We were docusigning on the bus, but it closed, like, on, you know, April 3rd.

[00:52:49] So the next time you visit, even if you are not using a DVC room necessarily, like, even if you just get a cash value stay for a night or whatever, my assumption is, is that the next time you scan yourself into a park, you will get the special green and pink lights and the welcome home message. Yes. And that's very exciting. Looking forward to that. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. That's very exciting for you. I cannot believe...

[00:53:18] Like, I'm telling you, this is a month past the day you got back and you held this information from me for that long just to get the live reaction. Well, you know, yeah. I wanted it to be something special for the podcast. Yes. I appreciate that. But yeah, I mean, yeah. So if anyone out there wants to know how it was like to buy DVC on the ship, let me know. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Because we did it. And then they gave us all of the... Every day, if you're a DVC member and you're on the cruise, every day you get a gift. Oh, wow. Okay.

[00:53:45] You know, it was like a magnet, a hat, or a water bottle, or... Mm-hmm. And they were like... And they like loaded us up as we were like walking out. He's like, this is the most expensive tote bag you've ever gotten. Mm-hmm. Take care of it. The zipper on mine broke. So I don't use it anymore. But... Yeah. So... That's really cool. That's... That's... I mean, yeah. The activities... But overall, it was just... You know, it's... It is... You know, I think there's one of those situations where I love... We love to cruise.

[00:54:15] We will not stop cruising non-Disney because it is expensive. Disney Cruise Line is... You are paying, but I do think you are getting your money's worth for sure. And, you know, we are already in the process of booking our next one. So... Okay. It was... You got a placeholder? It was great. We did. We did get the placeholder, but interestingly enough, you know, the placeholder has restrictions. I mean, everything has restrictions, but there... You can only use the placeholder on certain dates, date ranges.

[00:54:45] And because Chrissy's a teacher, we're looking again back at her... When is her spring break in 2027? And that week, only certain sailings were available for... To... For us to use the placeholder and get the discount. Okay. So it is a little restrictive, you know? But the good thing about the placeholder is you make the placeholder. If you don't use it, you get your $250 back. Mm-hmm. So it's really no...

[00:55:14] You know, it's not going to hurt you. And then if you do end up using it, then you use it. Otherwise, you get it back. And so it ended up that what were the dates that we're looking at, you know, we didn't want to do the same exact sailing. That was available, you know, on the way. You know, we want to do something different. So hopefully what we're looking to book is something different. Mm-hmm. But we won't be using the placeholder because they didn't qualify, but it's fine.

[00:55:36] So on Friday, April 17th, you disembarked and you were transferring over to Coronado Springs, which I know you stayed there the last time that you and I spoke. This was in a casita. So how was your stay at Coronado Springs this time? Yeah, it was great. We stayed in... I don't think it was a casita. Because they all have different names. I call all of the outer buildings casitas personally. And that's just me. Like, I've just decided they're all casitas.

[00:56:05] And that's why I said we're staying in a casita because that's what I was just calling all the buildings. So it was the buildings that was closest to the pool. Okay. But basically between the tower and the pool. Mm-hmm. It ended up being great. We didn't have to... We... We... One interesting... One thing is if you're doing the transfer through Disney Cruise Line, wherever... Whatever resort you're going to, they all leave at the same time. And our...

[00:56:32] When we told our waitstaff the night before because they were saying, oh, you know, here are your options for breakfast. You know, they drop off luggage tags in your room and, you know, you're supposed to leave when your luggage tag character is called, whatever. But if you're doing a Disney transfer, the waitstaff was like, you probably shouldn't get breakfast. You should because you need to be, like, waiting for your bus at 8.15. Like, you need to just walk off the boat as early as possible. Wow. I was a little annoyed.

[00:57:00] I was like, oh, that would have been nice to know beforehand. Mm-hmm. You know, so because they do have the dining... There's a dining room open for breakfast and they... I think they actually prefer people to do that. Whatever the case may be. When we... So... But luckily the buffet was open at 6. So I was able to get something to eat. Chrissy and Vinny, on the other hand, want... You know, they wanted to sleep in a little more. So I brought back some pastries because we were all nervous. We had to get off the boat. But, you know, the bus is going to leave without...

[00:57:30] They made us very anxious by telling us all this. And then their disembarkation procedure, I thought, was very chaotic. And I did some TikToks and Instagrams about this. But long story short, it was just very... They could have done a lot more with signage. A lot more information about where you were supposed to go. I just made some guesses that happened to be right. And then once you got to the main level, you were in this anomalous line, nebulous line that you were in. Mm-hmm.

[00:57:59] The hallways were two-way traffic. Mm-hmm. It was very... It felt very non-coordinated. Yeah. Which is not something I would have expected. And it took us a while to, like, get through that... That procedure. So I was a little annoyed about that. But we did it because they made us so anxious about, you know, not missing the bus. But when we did get off, we got on the bus. Another 45 minutes back to Coronado Springs. And we had plans that evening.

[00:58:29] We didn't do much. We just hung out at the pool. And that evening, we had dining reservations at Wailulu Bar and Grill. Mm-hmm. During the fireworks. That worked out great. Everyone had a nice meal. And we were there for the fireworks. We were able to see them from... We were, like, up along the window. Mm-hmm. Um, Vinny and Chrissy went outside for a little while. And we're able to see them from... To kind of the outer area there. And then we took a minivan back to the resort and had a nice sleep.

[00:58:58] Mm-hmm. And then Saturday, we didn't do much. We did some resort hopping just to go and take... Again, take the Skyliner and the boats. Went over to Riviera. I did not have the banana bread chocolate chip banana bread. I was so, like... Not even to go? Because I wrote down in my notes here, banana bread to go, maybe. Yep. Uh, the line was long.

[00:59:26] And Vinny was not cooperating. So... We'll just have to cross it off for our next DVC trip there. Mm-hmm. So it's, you know... But, you know, we spent some time there. Um, and, uh, we ended up... Uh, we had dinner that evening at Three Bridges with a friend of ours that also happened to be staying and staying there at the same time. So that was great. The food there is really good. Mm-hmm. And the ambiance and the service and the location.

[00:59:55] It is one of the better experiences, I think, on a resort. So that was really, really cool. And then Sunday morning we had breakfast reservations at Topolino's. And this was your first time. Yes. All right. Thoughts? And it was very good. People told me, friends of ours told us, uh, about how good the steak and eggs were. They were right. It was... I didn't, you know, I was like, wow, this is, you know... I was like, this is expensive for just an entree.

[01:00:25] You know, these are buffet prices. Mm-hmm. And the food was good. The bread basket was amazing. They had Nutella. Um, and the food was really good. And it was... That was our day. You know, we went back to Coronado Springs at some point. Then it was off to the airport. How was your return flight? Nope. No issues. You know, the return flight coming home from a Disney vacation is always just sad. Mm-hmm. You know, you dread it.

[01:00:54] But you're in the airport and you're just like, place wasn't as great as it was when we got here. Mm-hmm. But it was fine. No issues. We had a later flight that evening. And so we had to pick up an Uber again to take us back from the airport. So we were back by probably... It was a Sunday, though, with everybody having work and school the next day. So it was a little bit of a later night, but we made it happen. Yeah. And is Chrissy done with her school year? When did they wrap up? Oh, no. They're not done.

[01:01:24] They are not done until mid-June. Yeah. Same up here. Actually, it's kind of late June that we're done up here. Although they always fake us out because we have these standardized tests and stuff that the kids have to do. And it's not on the calendar. And then sort of in the weeks leading up to it, it's like you only have to come to school on these days if you have to take this specific test. So Alex always ends up having random days where I was like, I didn't know you were going to be off today. Yeah. So we were looking forward to our next trip.

[01:01:54] Yeah. And it's July, right? Yeah. We'll be in July. We have a... Trip was booked before we became DVC members. So... Mm-hmm. Yeah, we're spending five nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge with no park days planned. But we did purchase Epcot after hours tickets for Chrissy and Ab. And remind me of the dates that you will be at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We are there... Because I feel like we just miss each other.

[01:02:23] July 6th through the 10th. Oh, you are? Yes. Okay. Then we will overlap. Because I am arriving at Animal Kingdom Lodge on the 6th. And I think I'm there until the 10th of the 11th. I think. Well, that's funny. Yeah. I'll be over in... I'll be in Kidani Village. You'll be using your DVC membership. I will. I will. Let me... Hold on. Let me map this out. Because we arrive on the... This is Universal. Universal. And then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

[01:02:53] Yeah. I think we're there at Animal Kingdom the 6th through the 10th. And then we transfer over to Boardwalk for a couple nights at the end. That's amazing. That is so funny. Are you in Kidani or Jumbo? We're in Jumbo. I... We're in Jumbo with a Savannah view. Okay. We're in Kidani with a Savannah view. I don't think we look out onto the same Savannah. But wouldn't it be cute? If we could see each other across from balconies and just be like, hey. Well, you never know. We'll run into each other. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm absolutely sure we will. We have a car. We're having a... We're going to have a car.

[01:03:23] Oh, wow. So we have lots of... Well, because we're not going to go to the parks, right? Yes. Where thought is... That's true. Let's have a car. We'll hit up... We'll go to Disney Springs. We'll hit up Character Warehouse. You know, we'll go get Gideon's not at Disney Springs. So there's no line. So we have some ideas. Okay. I just thought of something. So first of all, I will probably see you around. We're not going to have a car because we've added on several nights at Universal and I'm doing a Keys to the Kingdom tour. Like all these things are added up.

[01:03:53] And so I was like, we do not need a rental car. Whenever we need to drive somewhere, we will just take a Lyft or an Uber and it will be fine. And Disney transportation. If I can, and I think I can transfer some Legoland tickets to you, would you be interested in going to Legoland? It's, I think, like an hour drive away, but I won free tickets. And I have like... Why did you win free tickets? I... Okay.

[01:04:20] So what happened was I went to the, like a travel show at the Javits Center. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. And they had all of these... As media? No, I just went because it sounded fun. No, because it was like an activity to do. And the tickets for the show were something like, I don't know, it was like $17 a person or something. So my friend Jeanette and I, we were like, that's a Saturday activity. Let's do it. And it was the day that there was the, like the blizzard here.

[01:04:50] And so we were like, I bet nobody's going to come. But I was like, if it's safe enough for me to get out and get on the subway, because I can get it out the subway, like right around the corner from my building. And when you get off at the Javits Center, I was like, if I can stand walking through the snow for like three blocks, I'm good. And she said the same thing. And I said, okay, I will meet you in the subway. Like, and we'll come upstairs and, you know, check through this together because Samantha Brown was talking at the travel show. And that's really what I wanted to like.

[01:05:19] I wasn't going to visit all these booths necessarily, but I was like, Samantha Brown's going to be there. It was so cool because it was like, it was actually a Sunday because the ticket was good for either day. And we were like, everybody knew the snow was coming. I couldn't go on the Saturday. And we said, I bet most people will go on Saturday because the weather is going to be better. And so we went ahead and did the Sunday. We showed up and no joke. We went to the area where she was scheduled to speak.

[01:05:47] And we were maybe there 15 minutes early. I was like, let's like go over there and get our seats or whatever. We roll up. There's one couple sitting there. And then so Jeanette and I were like, I'm not going to like distance myself. We sat in the row right behind them and we're like, hey, what are you doing here? Are you a Samantha Brown fan and all that? And I think by the end of her talk, there were maybe 20 people in the audience. Wow. That blizzard really killed it. Yeah.

[01:06:14] So she rolled up with a Tupperware container full of her homemade cookies. Was it cookies or was it banana bread? I think it was actually banana bread and was like passing out napkins and like handing us each banana bread of hers to try. And then we watched her do her presentation. She had slides and everything. And she just basically talked about how she got into travel. And it was so interesting looking at her beginnings because she used to do musical theater and it was just something that she auditioned for.

[01:06:41] And then she became, you know, subsequently passionate. Like she always enjoyed travel, but then she became passionate about travel and what it can do for you and for your family and everything. And it was just so cool to listen to her. And then while we were there, we were like, we might as well walk past all the booths. And so we were there like, you know, in a booth about Asia. And then there was like, you know, a booth about North Carolina. It was like such a random mix. And there was a booth for Central Florida.

[01:07:10] And we walked past and we were like, you know, chatting them up because we were like, we love Florida. And they had a little thing where you could enter to win something. And so we put our names in. And lo and behold, I got an email like two weeks later and my name was drawn and I won four free tickets to Legoland, which is a little on the young side for Alex. And it's an hour drive away. And I don't think I'm going to be able to fit into our plans because we're not going to have a rental car.

[01:07:39] And I got like four tickets to some garden thing. But those I don't have vouchers for. I have to actually go somewhere to like physically show up and be like, hi, I'm here for my tickets. And then I got a whole giant, like a really nice tote bag, sort of like an LL Bean boat and tote size bag that says Visit Central Florida on the side. And it came with like, like a coffee mug and like a stress ball. Yeah, that sounds great. And it like it had so many goodies in it. And I was just like, wow, that's amazing.

[01:08:08] I will I will take it. But I've had these Legoland tickets and I was like, who can I give these to that has a younger kid that would be able to use them? Because I think they have to be used by like September or something like that. You don't have forever to use them. So if you would like tickets to Legoland, I will send you my code. I will talk to Chrissy. But like, I mean, he's free. All you have to do is be willing to drive.

[01:08:36] There's four of us, me, Chrissy, Vinny and her sister-in-law that are coming with us. Oh, perfect. Yeah. And it's literally like I have four separate codes. So like basically you just go throw your tickets into your shopping cart and then you would enter the codes that I have and boom. Send me the codes. OK. And I'll let you know if, you know, if she's if we can work it in, I'll let you know. So that we're going to use them. And if not, I'll let you know so that you can maybe find someone else. But OK, I'll talk to her and see what she says. Wow, that's so great. Fantastic. I know.

[01:09:06] Sure. I mean, we have the car. So I know. And I felt like, you know, my my $17. I got my $17 just out of watching the Browns speak. But to also get this amazing tote bag of goodies and these tickets and stuff, I was just like that was the best snow day ever. Right. Yeah. Anyway. Sounds great. Thank you. Yeah. You're welcome. Well, well, now you're going to have to cut all of that out. No, no. People will be interested. You'd be surprised. They like hearing stuff like this. I'm sure.

[01:09:35] I'm sure people are still tuned in at this point. And thank you to those of you who are still tuned in at this point. Thank you. But I will see you in July. That is for certain. For sure. We will make a point to cross paths and and enjoy a moment or two together out of our vacations amongst all the other fun that we're having. Yeah. We definitely want to go over to there's a, you know, the pool over there. And yeah, we'll be all around. Yeah. Perfect. All right, Chris. It's been so much fun talking to you.

[01:10:04] And I'm so glad I had this idea while we were talking because I was like, I don't want the tickets to go to waste. All right. I will email them to you as soon as we're done here. Great. All right. Have a great rest of your evening and I will see you in July. See you in July. Thank you again to Chris for coming back on the show. And for anyone wondering, Chris and his family will be taking those Legoland tickets. And I can't wait to run into them in person at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

[01:10:32] I love it when I actually get to meet my podcast guests in person. I'm sure you'll all get to hear about it when I do my own trip report from my July vacation. And that is all for now. Thank you for listening as always. And keep daydreaming about where you long to be.