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As many of you know we are Disney Cruise Line Fans. We have taken three of their cruises already and have another one scheduled in April of 2010, which will be a 2 week transatlantic cruise.
In less than an hour Disney is going to announce an all new destination that one of their ships will cruise to. And I am so excited! I'm hoping it's Alaska or Hawaii, but in any case the anticipation is all part of the fun.
Here are a couple of teaser trailers they put together, they're awful cute!
Approximately five years ago, we decided to forgo our usual Disney themed vacation to an amusement park and add a twist to it. 
Cruise, Disney, Meme, Photograph, Vacation Another day at sea! And so much to do!
Because we have cruised with Disney before, we are members of their Castaway Club. Which entitles us to a free gift in our state room (this time it was a really nice bag, some water bottles, stationery products and a mesh bag), and a party with the officers staff, just for us. Last cruise we didn't get a chance to go because Hubby and I had booked brunch at Palo, the adults only restaurant on board. There are special treats available at this party, my favorite....chocolate dipped Mickey Rice Krispie Bars!
Sunday December 7th - A whole day at sea! This is why we prefer Disney's Eastern route to their Western one. More sea days! For us, cruising is all about the ship. While we enjoy the ports, we like the ship more.
Deck 4, is our favorite place to hang out on the ship. They have the most comfortable teak lounge chairs, and you will find us there most days, with books. (Sometimes the books are closed on our laps, because we're sleeping....) This is also their "walking track". You can walk around the whole ship on this deck, 3 times = a mile. While walking you go through where they keep the anchors and all that mechanical stuff, that keeps us from floating away when we're in port.
So many other things have come up in bloggy world that I left my trip update behind! I'll try and catch up a bit more frequently, but be warned, there are some more reviews (and giveaways) planned for the near future!
Day 5 of our Disney Vacation, was Saturday December 6th. We said good-bye to the parks and hello to our home for a week the beautiful Disney Magic!
In the terminal area where you board the ship, they have a mini of the ship, with a cut out on one side so you can see the inside of it as well.
There are SOOOO many wonderful photo opportunities at Disney, that it took me a long time, and a few "tours" through our many pictures to decide, what my favorite one was. I finally decided though, my favorite opps are the ones that chronicle Genius's growth.
We have visited so many times, that we really don't take as many pictures any more as we used to. But when we do tend to take pictures we end up taking them in the same spots, which is really neat, because that way we can see the way Genius has grown and matured over the years.
Here are three pictures chronicling Genius growth. They were taken on Disney's Castaway Cay by "Mount Rustmore" (which is another reason why it is one of my favorite opps....we live in South Dakota....). The pictures were taken in April of 2004, January of 2007, and December of 2008.
I am a planner by nature - lists overtake my desk area and kitchen. I make sure I go over them once, twice and then again. Every detail, whether or not I have any control over it!
My vacation planning is really no different. Besides trips up to Canada to visit family (which I don't count!), our last 7 vacations all had to do with Disney, so I feel I am pretty versed in it!
One of our biggest planning strategies, is to take a vacation during off season. The prices for hotels are cheaper, and you can often get perks if you plan right through Disney. This past trip we took, was the only one where we have ever stayed on property. Usually we are too cheap to do that, but since we didn't want to rent a car, we explored the option. Since we were going during low season, and used a AAA discount we ended up getting the hotel for 20% off, we felt that was worth it. I found a lot of the dates and savings at MouseSavers.
This Destination Disney is all about being "Decked Out"
Heidi encouraged us to make the theme "our own" so this is my take on "Decked Out" Disney style.
A Decked Out Castle.
A Decked Out Pirate. (Elizabeth Swann's Chinese Pirate look)
Today's Destination Disney theme is "Dressed Up".
Pirates of the Caribbean has always been our favorite ride in the Magic Kingdom, long before the movies came out we were fascinated by pirates! Take a peek at this picture of Genius at 2 1/2 with her "Pirate Ears". 
Then of course we have her at 10 with a little more of an elaborate Pirate Costume on, hanging out with Mickey outside Lumieres on the Disney Magic.
Man, I am so late for this thing each week!
This week's theme for Destination Disney is "Starstruck", which has been interpreted different ways by those participating. In our family it doesn't get more starstruck than a meeting with Stitch. (Who incidentally replaced Buzz Lightyear as an obsession with Genius). So what could be better than a hug from Stitch? Stitch dressed like a PIRATE!!! Really, it doesn't get better than that. Except maybe.....if we're all in a photo with Jack Sparrow!!
Cruise, Disney, Photograph, Picture, Vacation Tracy's Scraps has this great layout. I combined it with papers and font that I found at her Site of the Day e-Scrapbookit. It's of some pictures from our first Disney Cruise in 2004. Now I can't wait for the next one to make some more layouts!! Only 4 more months to go....
Cruise, Digital Scrapbooking, Disney, Genius, Vacation Here is my latest digital scrapbook creation -- It is from our Character Breakfast on the Disney Magic in January of 2007. The template used was from Designs by Andrea Gold Template #246 and paper and embellishments were from Designs by Nikki - Bright Mickey.
Cruise, Digital Scrapbooking, Disney, Vacation In honor of Father's Day Heart of the Matter is having a Meme dedicated to those special fathers in our lives, our husbands. We were asked to put up a favorite picture of those dear men on our blogs.
So this picture is one of my favorites. It's Hubby and Genius playing table tennis on Disney's private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay. This was taken January 2007. If you want to see more pictures from our last cruise check here.
