Disney Cruise Line.... Part 2

We ate breakfast at the Beach Blanket Buffet again.



And yes, what you see on my plate is indeed chocolate Mickey Mouse head shaped waffles smothered in syrup alongside smoked salmon. I have a wide variety of tastes, okay?



We then took off for....





Nassau!!!

As we got off the boat we were practically ambushed by people trying to sell us stuff. They were everywhere. We found this family in front of us and just followed right behind them so the ambush guys would think we were just kids part of that family and not ambush us quite as much. It worked. :) We must look really young!





I didn't really take many photos here. For one thing, we only spent about two hours on the island, if that much. And for another, we were paying attention to our surroundings a lot because we were both nervous to be there alone. On the boat before we left, though, we were given a packet of coupons, including free stuff. We went around and collected our free jewelry which included three necklaces, a charm bracelet, two charms, and a coupon for free charms if I ever visit the places on the coupon (places like Key West, Cozumel, etc.). It was great to walk around, but we quickly made our way back to the boat.





After getting back on the boat we just chilled for the better part of the day. The adult's pool was nearly empty so we hung out there for a while too. It was soooo nice and relaxing to just float there in the pool for as long as we wanted with not a care in the world.

We grabbed some lunch I think at Goofy's Galley or one of those quick serve places that I forgot the name of. It was so weird because it was just like ordering at a restaurant. I went up to the person behind the counter and asked what I wanted. Whether it was a hamburger and fries or a chicken Caeser wrap (those wraps were incredible) or the smoked salmon and cream cheese toasted sandwich, they would just give it to me and I'd go on my merry way! It felt weird because I didn't have to pay. Or, rather, I should say I already paid for it. :)

After chilling for a while and seeing some characters and such, we watched a movie on TV. Toy Story, actually. This was very convenient because the show for this night was...



Toy Story the Musical! Live, as all the shows were. It actually followed the movie pretty darn well, especially from us having watched it just previously.

Dinner for this night was at Parrot Cay.





This was probably the least interesting of the restaurants as there was nothing but a bunch of stuffed parrots or pictures on the walls. Yeah, funny that such a nice restaurant can actually be considered at the lower end! So even though it definitely wasn't one of the better ones, it was still fantastic!

This is Heather showing off the menu.



And yes, I took pictures of all my food. It was awesome, okay!?









And of course when we got back to our room after dinner we found this little number hanging up to dry...



And to end here are some extra random pictures from day two:

Disney Cruise Line....Part 1

Last Friday morning (Friday the 13th interestingly enough) we set sail. The morning was rough because Heather still had stuff to pack and other stuff to mail home and we just had more things than I had anticipated that needed to get done before the cruise. Our expected departure time from here was supposed to be 9:30. I believe we were actually on the road around 11:30. But it was no problem because we didn't really need to be at the port until 1pm.

So we took off and arrived at the port around 12:30. We checked our bags, parked, and made our way into the Disney Cruise Line building.



It was under construction so it was hard to get a good picture of it.

Sailor Minnie was there to greet us!



We went over to the check-in area to get our Key to the World cards and eventually, board the ship!!!



Crew members were standing there waiting for us. As we approached a man asked for our names. And as we entered the atrium of the ship, the man's voice came over the loud speaker saying, "Disney Wonder welcomes Dianna and Heather!!!" and a bunch of other crew members cheered and clapped for us. It was amazing! (This picture was actually taken later from the top of the stairs)



After boarding we went to grab some grub. Our whole reason for getting there early was the free lunch! The Beach Blanket Buffet had tons of colorful and awesome foods. Some that I'd never even had before!



There were two new soups that neither of us had tried before so we grabbed some to taste. I got the leek soup and Heather grabbed a bit of the strawberry soup. We sat outside with an awesome view at the back end of the ship and ate our food. It was so tasty!



Turns out I don't like leek soup and Heather doesn't like strawberry soup. But when we traded we liked each others more. However, still, neither of the soups were finished.



We then went to check out our room!











It was actually bigger than I expected. We even had a tub! When we got to the room, one of Heather's checked bags was missing. They told us that all the luggage wouldn't be put into the rooms until 5:30, but we were still worried. We still tried to have fun. Thankfully nothing super valuable was in that bag.

While we waited we explored the ship...



Found the cast member's only pool...



Put on our life vests for the safety drill...



And attended the sail away party!!!



They made the dad's dance to YMCA. It was hilarious! Poor guys. The one in the Indian hat had the thing turn inside out on his head.



Who is that nerdy looking tourist in the sunglasses in the bottom left corner?



When we got back to our room after all this fun, Heather's suitcase was there. We think someone searched through it, I guess checking for bombs or something. But nothing was taken and we could continue our amazing, no-stress vacation!!!

We then walked down the red carpet to the Disney Theater to watch a show called "The Golden Mickeys."



Photos weren't allowed in the theater, but OH. MY. GOSH! Take my word for it. It was unbelievable!!!

After the show we ate dinner in the Animator's Palate. Probably my favorite restaurant on the whole ship.



The colors on the walls became brighter and brighter throughout dinner. As the music played a certain movie or character's theme song, that character would come to life in color. It was fun to pay attention and figure out what movie belonged with what music and then watch that picture for signs of life! (actually, Heather usually figured it out first and told me where to look... she knows everything about Disney. Everything. Haha)

Then, just when you thought the whole restaurant would be colorful, they'd all fade away and start over. It got just a little bit farther and farther to the point of being colorful each time. It's something I can't even really describe. You'd just have to experience it. AMAZING!



Plus, this was the best butternut squash soup I've ever tasted. Okay, so it's the only butternut squash soup I've ever had, but still... pretty sure this is my new favorite food!



The ceiling and paintbrushes became colorful too.



Do you see the hidden Mickey??





Even my dinner was a hidden Mickey! I think this was the veal.



And of course at the end of the meal the walls were getting more and more colorful and all the servers went in the back at the same time. We knew something was up! When they came out, their clothes were no longer black and white, but totally colorful! And they danced for us too.






When we got back to the room we found this little guy on the bed. We couldn't figure out what it was. A bunny? A dog? I think we decided on a floppy-eared dog.





Our room service guy had also been in to turn our couch into a bed so we each had our own place to sleep. We turned on the TV to watch a movie, but both of us fell asleep almost immediately. Such a perfect day!

And to end, here are a few random pictures of the boat...

Disney Cruise Line....Prequel

I'm actually going to begin the night before because that had to do with Disney too. :) My friend (of a friend) was able to get my dad and me into the park to watch the parade and the fireworks. I hung out with some friends I hadn't seen in a while and watched the new Electrical Parade. Also, the Summer Nightastic fireworks show (which was spectacular) was ending the next week so it was extra awesome!









There was fire literally on the castle during the Pirates of the Caribbean sequence.

IN-CRE-DI-BLE!






This got me in the Dinsey spirit so I could start cruising off in the right direction! I LOVE Disney World!!!

Sad News

My roommate is being sent home.

She didn't do anything wrong. It's just international problems and paperwork that wasn't filled out.

Totally sucks. I feel so bad for her. I'm thinking of every possible free experience there is here. We're going on the ferry ride tonight by the castle. Hopefully that'll be better than nothing.

And I don't know what I'm gonna do cuz after she leaves I'll be alone in a four person apartment which isn't allowed...

We shall see.

On Top Of The World

I'm in Florida. Finally got an apartment. All checked in and ready to work.

My location? Magic Kingdom, Main Entrance and Parade Control!

The cruise was amazing. I ate a snail and got three free necklaces in the Bahamas.

I don't start work until Monday but I get my ID tomorrow so I will be playing in the parks until Monday.

My roommate is from Hong Kong. Which is awesome.

I am literally the luckiest kid on the whole freaking planet.

I am tired as heck, but I promise to update more within the next few days complete with pictures and stuff from our totally awesome fantastic five day cruise!

Plans

I've pretty much been neglecting my blog a lot lately. But really it's because there's been so much to write about that I just haven't felt like it. Except for the past week. The past week I've spent literally doing just about nothing. It's been fantastic!

On Wednesday I'm driving to Florida with my dad. We'll go to Disney World Thursday night to see the summer fireworks and then I leave for my cruise with Heather Friday morning. Friday the 13th.

That'll be fun.

Yeah, words can't even describe how excited I am for this cruise. And I think Heather's even more psyched than I am!

Since you have to pay through the nose for internet on the cruise, I'm not even gonna bother. Also, phone calls cost $7/min on the cruise. Yep, you read that right. $7 for ONE MINUTE of talking! Geez!

It's okay though, cuz I still love Disney.

Pictures will come soon (both of the cruise and the Maine trip). And by soon I mean probably two weeks from now after I'm done with the cruise and checked in and settled at Disney World.

I'm the luckiest kid in the world. Seriously. :)

Firsts

You can see a lot of what I've been doing for the past week on my mom's blog, but here's how I'm documenting our trip to Maine. At least for now...

In the past week, I have done each of these things for the first time (not necessarily in order):

Drove for 35 hours straight (through the night from Idaho to Virginia)

Visited Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire... At least I think that's all the new states I visited

Went down a zip line

Returned empty soda cans for money

Rode in a convertible

Ate lobster

Went down a hill in an Ogo ball

Saw my mom puke

Went on a "duck" tour which is a "bus-to-boat" type vehicle

Toured Acadia forest in Maine--and hiked part of a mountain there

Toured Fort Bragg in NC

Went to Myrtle Beach (although we didn't really get to see the beach)

Stayed in a handicapped hotel room

Saw New York City and Washington DC in the same day

Drove a Honda and a Ford car... I'm pretty sure I've only driven Toyota brand cars up til now

And, of course, got pulled over by a cop (and got a warning... but let's not discuss that further)

I may have forgotten some, but let's just say it's been an extremely eventful past nine days and I am SO ready to SLEEP!

Bitter Sweet

As happy as I am to finally be done with Spanish for the rest of my life, and as delighted that I feel that I'm almost finally a Senior and ready to go home and enjoy more adventures, I have to say I'm a little sad too.

With my gift card I decided to go out to eat with my friend Ashley one more time. She's one of my best friends that I've made since being up here and even though we weren't even in the same ward this year, I feel like we hung out more than I did with some roommates even.

We went to Taco Time (surprise surprise) and sat and talked for the longest time. I'm really going to miss her a lot. She graduates Friday and then goes off to grad school at Gonzaga University or something like that. A month from now she'll be in Washington and I'll be in Florida.

I'm gonna miss my roommates too. We're never gonna get to be roommates again for various reasons. I've had such a fantastic semester with them. We've had so much fun and I've made so many friends. I just wish all my friends could just be graduating at the same time as me so that the whole, sad "I'm gonna miss you." thing only happens once with a ton of people instead of being spread through practically every single semester.

Ah well. I'll just keep moving on. I get to go home and visit friends and family I miss there. I'll get to be in better weather and have much more freedom. I can't even wait!

And did I mention I'm done with Spanish forever!?

It's the Little Things in Life

I'm getting free pizza for dinner tonight. And in one class tomorrow. And in another class on Wednesday.

I'm done with all classes except Spanish.

My teacher just switched the Spanish final so we can get it all taken and done tomorrow and not have to show up to class Wednesday! Now I get to be done with school a whole hour earlier than I thought in a class where I'll be eating pizza and finding out if my group won the $200!

I just got some free ringtones for my cell phone. Now I'm excited for people to call or text me just so I can hear them!

My friends want me to live with them in Cloud 9 next year. We talked to the managers. Cross your fingers!

I'm going home on Friday!

I'm going on a cruise!

I work at Disney World!

Okay, so maybe they're not all little, but still! I'm the happiest kid in the world!

Wow

I just slept for 12 hours.

I love Saturdays.

And I need to remember not to go to overnight slumber parties during finals anymore.

What The Heck?

Earlier today when I went outside I noticed the sky looked funny. It was overcast, but a different overcast than I'd ever seen before in my life. In fact, it was so weird that I made a mental note to blog about it when I got home.

I've seen overcast, but usually the sky is a pretty grey color. I'd never seen a brown sky in my life... at least that I recall.



By the way, I stole these pictures from my friend who lives in Sugar City (like two miles away from here). I got them off of Facebook. Just so you know.



I had no idea why the sky was brown, but I figured it was just another unknown part of the horrible, disgusting, dry Idaho weather that I hate... but I digress.

So I went to my group meeting and we worked for a while and as I came home the brown overcast sky was still there. As I walked inside, my roommate, Kiara, notified me of the reason. Apparently, there's a big forest fire somewhere around here. It's like ten miles north of where we are or something. I'm not too worried.

But at least now I know that skies are not generally just brown for no reason. No matter how disgusting I think the weather may be. And there probably won't be rain.

Final Week-ish

It's that time of the semester.

There's only a week and two days left of school.

White glove sheets have been handed out.

People are running out of food.

Illnesses are being handed out more than exam papers.

Students have started cramming.

We've moved into hyper-insanity mode.

The wind is blowing hard than ever.

The paper chains counting down days in people's apartments are getting shorter.

Wish me luck! This is not the kind of roller coaster I enjoy boarding!

Better Than Nothing...

You guessed right!

They haven't released the actual picture yet. I got this from watching the school news channel and using print screen (and everyone isn't in the correct places yet here anyway, you can see all the holes).

They're going to blow the picture they took up to 25 feet by 20 feet and put it in the Crossroads which is the school dining area. It'll be huge! Unfortunately, it won't happen for another eight weeks and I'll be gone then. But I'll definitely put up a real picture someday. Me, Kiara and Jake were in the bottom left crook (I was literally right exactly in the corner on the outside) of the I as pointed out here.



Can't you see me down there? :)

The B was the hardest one. They kept having to correct the people in the B, telling them to squish together more and stop moving. The dash and the I were the two easiest letters. It was definitely very fun and very worth the hour and a half of my time!