A Mickey Bar a day....

One thing I love about the Disney Cruise Line is the food. There is never a minute when you cannot have something delicious to eat. On a 7 day cruise, that is a lot to eat. When it's over, you are lucky if your clothes still fit! :)

A couple of my favorites are soft serve ice cream 11am-11pm every day, the fantastic desserts at Topsiders (or Beach Blanket on the Wonder), and the great sandwiches at Goofy's Galley. And don't forget room service and deck 9 soda, 24/7!

But enough about that...let's get on to the Mickey Bars. The fantastic Disney servers in the ship's restaurants go far far out of their way to make sure that you have anything that is within their power to get for you. Great, great story about the best banana bread I have ever tasted, but that's another post! :) Sorry, I keep drifting on the seas of DCL food. So, each evening dinner on my 7 day cruise, I ordered a Mickey Bar (it's on the children's menu) to go with my dessert choice. Too much you say?? I don't think so! I just love those Mickey Bars...and even after 7 days I still feel the same.

So next time you find yourself awash in the seas of Mickey, have their wonderful crew throw you a life preserver of dessert and a length of line attached to...yes you guessed it...a Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar. Believe me, you won't be going overboard. :)

Castaway Cay Construction

I recently took a 7 day Western Caribbean Cruise on my favorite Cruise Line and you can take a guess at which one. I wanted to post a few pictures of the construction seen going on at Castaway Cay. The most noticeable is the new water feature with slides and a bucket dump. As you can see in the photos, it is still wrapped in plastic in many places. This mini water park will be called "Pelican Plunge". You will have to swim to get to it and it will include water cannons!

This thing looks like loads of fun and I have no doubt will be a fantastic addition to Disney's own Island Paradise! Enjoy the pics!











The picture above shows many new vertical poles. I can only guess these may be for the new cabanas that are planned. I will be returning to Castaway Cay in late January and will be able to update everyone on any new progress that I see.

This huge mountain of sand is just off the dock where the Magic and Wonder reside while at Castaway Cay. Looks like plenty of work to be done around the dock area.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! I did not cover all the new additions to Castaway Cay that will be coming by the summer of 2010. These are just a few that I was able to photograph.

Anyone who has the good fortune to travel on the best cruise line in the industry will soon be able to enjoy many new ways to have fun or relax at Castaway Cay. I am really looking forward to the new additions! Less than a year after the upgrades, here comes the new Disney Dream! And I am sure everyone can't wait for a cruise on one of the new ships! See you there :)

Disneyland!

I recently had a chance to visit Disneyland via a side trip from a company meeting in Las Vegas. This was the 3rd year and this works out very well as far as cost. It is a nice 4 hr scenic drive from Vegas to Anaheim. We have a tradition of stopping at Knott's for a chicken dinner as soon as we arrive. Fantastic food there! Anyway...on to Disneyland!

We only did one day this year. We had thought we could cover just about everything we wanted to do in a day. My only disappointment was missing the mountains, especially Space Mtn. We neglected to get a fastpass and at the end of the day the wait was 80 minutes. On to some thoughts on a few select attractions!

Small World: This was our first visit since the refurb. My wife and I were very impressed with the outcome. Bright, vibrant colors, very well done. We also did not think the addition of the characters took anything away from the attraction. They fit in very inconspicuously, except for the Little Mermaid, who had a very big scene. All in all, it was great, no complaints here!

Pirates of the Caribbean: As usual, this attraction surpasses it's cousin in WDW. I love the New Orleans beginning through the bayou. The multiple drops and so many extra scenes makes it a fantastic attraction! I just wish Disney would have duplicated this one in Florida.

Peter Pan: I really like this version over the WDW version, the main reason being the star field that is here, but not there. It really gives a feeling of flying just a little more than WDW. Peter Pan is a great attraction no matter where you ride it!

A couple other mentions include Indiana Jones which is always a great time and the monorail which was a first ride on the new Mark 7. Very nice setup and I like the lighting at night. I still can't quite stand up in it though, score one for the WDW monorails especially if you are tall.

Another fantastic time at Disneyland! Can it be any other way?

New Hall of Presidents

I attended the Hall of Presidents during the passholder preview, which when we arrived the CM told us to go on in, it was open to all guests. In the foyer, there were cases with dresses of past first ladies, and cases with some other memorabilia. Photos of the dresses are in the post. On the floor you will notice the Great Seal of the United States. I have heard in the past that Disney had to get permission to put this here. An announcement was made that there was to be no video taping or photography during the presentation. I had hoped to get photos inside, but that was not to be.

I sat through the show twice and was very impressed with it. The Abraham Lincoln animatronic recited the complete Gettysburg Address which was very moving. George Washington also spoke, as did the current president, Barack Obama. I recognized President Washington's voice from the John Adams series on HBO. Same George Washington in the mini-series. He did a nice job. I also noticed that when the role call was in progress, there seemed to be less jumping from one side to the other. In the past show, by the time you looked, they had already moved on to the next President.

All in all, it was a much improved Hall of Presidents from the past version. I was impressed with the way it flowed, the clear, sharp video, and most of all how wonderfully the animatronic presidents moved so smoothly and realistically. Nice job Imagineers! If you are in the MK, stop by and check it out! Even if you don't like it, it's air conditioned and perfect for a short break!

Wishes Dessert Party

On Sunday night, my wife and I were walking up Main Street USA, (just like the song says) and a thought crossed my mind to check availability for the new Wishes Dessert party. We did a 180 and made our way back to City Hall. I was not hopeful, I had heard they were selling out fast. The Castmember informed us to go to the Noodle Station and inquire there. When we arrived, a very nice CM greeted us and said there was limited availability. Yes! She proceeded to take our information (and our money, $17.99 each) and informed us to return at 9:15pm.


The Hall of Presidents was next on the evening list. That's a subject for another blog post. We did this twice, with a Doombuggy ride in between. Nothing like 999 happy haunts to help work up an appetite.

We returned to the Noodle Station around 8:50pm. There was already a nice line. They allowed us to enter at 9pm, wristbands were given. Ours were green. There were teas and juices to drink. My wife enjoyed the blackberry green tea. The dessert was "all you care to eat". The fare included fruit trays for those wanting less sugar. The old standbys were there; chocolate chip cookies and brownies. The remaining desserts were fancy truffles, mango shooters, pistachio creme brule, just to name a few.
Everything was delicious. There was plenty of time to relax and eat too much, which we did. Wishes was next and compares with watching from the rose garden without the crowds. The main body of fireworks were off to the right of the castle, but still spectacular!
All in all, I was very happy with the entire party. The Castmembers were very helpful, food was fantastic, and Wishes was...Wishes. I could watch it a million times and never tire of it. I definitely recommend the Wishes Dessert Party. Go check it out!!

I am a Disneyholic!

Hi, I'm Jim, and I am a Disneyholic. "Hello, Jim", everyone replies. Believe me, if there were meetings for this, I would be there with Mickey Ears on. Not for therapy, but to share wonderful stories, time saving tips, and magical experiences with other Disneyholics. To learn the secrets of the Disney Parks, search for Easter eggs in Pixar movies, locate the most hidden of all Mickeys, and most of all to finally answer the illusive question, "When does the 3'o clock parade start?"

Our family's quest for The Mouse began 11 years ago across a kitchen table between my loving wife of then 17 years and myself. "Where should we move?", I asked. "Florida?", was her reply. From that day forward, we were focused on relocating our family of 10 to a place where dreams come true. Up to this point, our trips to the World were yearly and followed combat rules..rope drop to close. They also resembled Clark W Griswold's trip to Wally World, less the pool scene with Christy Brinkley. A memorable trip home began with us starting a drive north at midnight after being in the parks 15 hours. My Father-in-law insisted on feeding me caffeine pills until I was so sick I could neither drive or sleep. As we crossed the border into Georgia, I thought to myself, "There has to be a better way!"

I am a Disneyholic. I am a Disney podcast listener, and my largest playlist on my Ipod is (you guessed it) Disney music. I am also a member of the Neurotic Disney community as NDGD#1. Welcome to my world, my Disney Blog. Thanks for stopping by, and may all your days be magical!