On our way again!

Well, Jack and I are en route to our next adventure! We are on our way to Miami to set sail on Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas for a three night cruise to the Bahamas!

We booked this adventure last minute, less than two weeks out to be exact. I was curious to see if the price would drop even further after I booked and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't. I will say that the Majesty's sister ship the Monarch has a sailing today as well that visits the same ports and that price did continue to drop throughout this past week. So basically, if you are in the market for a great last minute deal, they can be found! Especially if you have a good travel agent ;) Sorry, had to take that moment to advertise!

Of course one of the major hindrances of any last minute adventure is the cost of airfare. We were lucky because we had Southwest points we could use for our flight so as soon as I decided there was a real chance we would do a cruise I booked the flights. I knew of we didn't end up going (as if that was ever truly a possibility) I could just cancel and keep the points so there was no out of pocket expense for that.

So we are on our way to Miami with a quick stop in Nashville. Now usually I wouldn't recommend flying in on the same day as you are sailing since flight delays could create a disaster, but the goal of this trip was to keep costs down so we are risking it. We are actually flying into Fort Lauderdale and have a shuttle scheduled to pick us up and take us to the ship. Southwest doesn't fly into Miami but FLL is pretty close. The shuttle service we are using we have used before and it worked out very well last time. Plus the price is fantastic, it's only $15 per person each way. Last time we had a scheduled pick up at a hotel so I'm hoping this will be as smooth of a process. I'm supposed to call once I am ready to be picked up at the airport. We didn't check any bags (I am still amazed at how light I was able to pack) so we won't have any waiting around once we land. Assuming the process is as smooth as expected I will be shouting their praises and promoting them to all my clients ;)

The other fantastic part of a last minute trip is it is much easier to keep secret! I didn't tell Jack about our adventure until I woke him up this morning! It's interesting how much easier to wake up a sleepy 4 year old when you tell him you are leaving on vacation in 10 minutes! Jack is very excited and is currently watching Cars on the portable DVD player. Our flight should be landing in the next 30 minutes or so in Nashville for our plane change!

Breakfast, exploring, and the trip home

The next morning we were up at 7. We finished packing and started a load of towel s as requested by the house company. I took some pictures just in case…
Sister’s room, downstairs with adjoining bathroom:






Living room out to pool...





Parents room, also had adjoining bathroom



Our room, also had a bathroom



Overall the house was nice. It wasn’t perfect, but for the price, I have no complaints. We never were able to get on the wireless internet, but we also didn’t try that hard.

So by 8 am we were on our way to breakfast at... Wilderness Lodge!
We got there about 8:25 and got seated immediately. This was the first time we had eaten hear though of course I have heard many stories. We looked over the menus and ordered. Jack had the Mickey Waffles, my dad, sister and I all had the skillet, and my mom had French toast.
The skillet comes with Mickey waffles (yum!), biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, sausage and potatoes.



And naturally we needed ketchup…



For anyone who doesn’t know, if you as for ketchup, they yell out loud to the whole place asking if anyone has any ketchup and then everyone is supposed to get up and bring you their ketchup. Jack kept telling people we had enough!
Jack participated in the pony race as well, but only for one lap because he was hungry!

After a delicious and fun and DISNEY breakfast, we toured the resort a bit and then headed on to check out another one…

I really want to stay here sometime. It just looks like so much fun! We walked around for a while but the only area we really looked at was naturally












































I really liked the idea of these little cone huts. It would make spending a hot afternoon at the pool that much more enjoyable!




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The door to one of the buildings was open so we peeked inside…










It’s the little details that are the best!!

We wandered back towards Animation Hall to do some browsing in the gift shop.






Look’s like resort specific merchandise is making a come back!


I really like this resort. If it was part of the current Free Dining promotion then we would be staying there this fall in the Little Mermaid section, but only the suites are included and they are pretty pricey, especially for just me and Jack. We obviously don’t need that kind of space. Someday though!

Next we headed to Downtown Disney. We stopped in Basin first to check out all their fabulous bath products, but for some reason Jack wasn’t into it so he and I headed in to World of Disney instead. We looked around for a while and my dad bought Jack an Agent P stuffed animal. I got a tote bag that was on sale. We headed outside to have a seat for a bit and then we walked over to the Lego area to check out the Lego statues.













My sister and I have always gotten our picture taken by this sea monster. One year she and I and Jack all had our picture taken here, I guess it’s kind of a tradition!
By this time it was hot and we were basically done shopping… so that must mean it’s time for margaritas!
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I got strawberry with sugar on the rim

My sister got a Pina Colada


My mom got the Patron Anejo Margarita

We also got some chips and salsa. The chips were literally Tostitos in a bag, but the salsa was fresh and awesome!

While we were finishing our snack I went over to Goofy’s Candy Company to pick up a couple treats. They have some of the best looking stuff in there and I love making my own treats. Plus it’s the perfect place to pick up little presents for friends.

Eventually it was time to leave. The only thing that made it bearable was knowing that I would be back in the fall!

We stopped by Publix so my mom could get a spice that you can evidently only get in Florida. Then we headed to the airport. My dad dropped us off and then went to return the car while we rearranged our bags etc. Once my dad got back my mom went off to her flight. Hers was earlier since she booked through work and didn’t have to book the cheapest flight available. I went to check the car seat since we weren’t checking any other bags and then we went to Macaroni Grill for a late lunch. After wards we shopped around the airport and then headed to our flight. It was about a thousand degrees on the plane and we had to sit on the runway for an extra 20 minutes. We had a stop in Atlanta, and Jack was hungry again so I got him some dinner at Checkers before our next flight. Our last flight was uneventful and we were all pretty tired so we were just ready to get home! Eventually we made it back to the house and fell into bed to start dreaming of our next adventure!