*AquaDuck, Ice Cream and Animator’s Palate

(Monday, February 24, 2014 – PM)
After our delicious lunch at Palo, Sharon and I were excited to pick up Hannah and hear all about her time in the Oceaneer’s Club and Oceaneer’s Lab.  She had a blast!  Lunch she said was good ~ sandwiches, fruit and she even ate a couple of veggies!   Colour me impressed as she’s not a huge veggie fan!
When I picked her up she had just finished a cooking class and was happily munching on the cookie she’d decorated.  It was cute - as we began to wander out of the bright passage filled with kid sized tables, chairs and lined with large portholes, she stopped at the edge of the passage and with a smile put her ‘stop’ hand up to me.  It ends up she still had the last bite of cookie in her mouth and was obeying what they’d been taught and not going outside the passage with food.  I love how she listens to what she’s asked and in most cases does as she’s asked.
Sharing her adventures with Nana.
The weather was beautiful again this day so it was time to change into our bathing suits and head to the pool!  I had to laugh when I first saw the pools.  There are a lot of kids on board and there are certain times the pools are busier than others.  The middle of the afternoon on a bright, sunny ‘at sea’ day is one of those days.  Both pools kinds reminded me of kid soup but we still had a blast!  We tried the Donald Duck pool at first with Hannah wearing a life jacket but it was a little too deep for me to enjoyably walk around for too long so we quickly switched up for the Mickey pool which was a perfect fit for us!   This picture is from a different day when it was only about half full of kiddos.  You can imagine the laughter and noise that comes up from this pool when more kids are in it.  I’d find a spot along the edge or just inside the pool and play with Hannah.  We had lots of fun in spite of it being like ‘kid soup!’
They also had a fun Mickey slide that Hannah enjoyed sliding down again and again.
We took our first ride on the AquaDuck which was amazing!!  The AquaDuck is a huge waterslide that begins in the stern funnel of the ship.   Riders ride either alone or in a group of 2 in a double tube with handles on the top and seats on the bottom.   On this particular day the winds were higher so all riders were 2 to a tube.  The first part of the ride the tube goes across a conveyer belt which moves you into a clear tube and down a small slope which swings the slide out over the ocean!  It’s so amazing to look down 12 stories and watch the ocean rushing by below!!  So cool!!  After that there is a dip and rise followed by a long section that runs along the port side of the ship.  The tube is clear so you can look out to the ocean on your left or to the pool deck below on your right.  After another dip (where a wave of cold water washes over the back of the person on the back - Yikes!!) there is a section where it swings through the bow funnel filled with disco style lights.  Upon exiting you’re now riding towards the stern of the ship and can enjoy the view once more, wave at family below before a final swing into the stern funnel and to the end of he ride.  The week we were there they were testing cameras that took your picture on the ride and then matched it to you using facial recognition but unfortunately none of our pictures found us.  Wait – I was in a bathing suit on the AquaDuck.  I stand corrected.  Thankfully none of our pictures found us! 
I didn’t have my camera with me when I rode so I borrowed this video from YouTube to give you a bit of an idea what the ride is like.  We loved it and never found the line too long which i was happy about.  I was really prepared for long lines for this ride and happy when they never materialized.

OK – who’s ready to AquaDuck???
After our ride and swim we relaxed on the deck with ice cream and cold drinks while watching a bit of Rapunzel on the Funnel Vision.  (Funnel Vision is a large TV like screen on the back of the forward funnel.)

Before we knew it it was time to get ready for supper.  Even though it was a ‘cruise casual’ evening Hannah wanted to wear her Rapunzel dress and she also did her own make-up.  Can you tell??  I think we’ll need to discuss ‘blending’ + ‘less is more’ in the future.  For this night I thought she looked beautiful!
This evening in our rotational dining we dined at Animator’s Palate.  It’s a wonderfully unique, fun restaurant and this evening it was based on a theme similar to ‘Turtle Talk with Crush’ which is one of our favourite shows at Epcot.
Tina dressed Hannah’s outfit up with her napkin.  Cutie!
This was our 3rd night on the cruise and a new nightly routine was being formed.  Hannah would go, go, go from about 7am until supper, eat her meal and then…
crash in mommy’s lap.  She would power up with a nap while I ate and then wake up as we left the restaurant and be ready for a few more hours of fun.  This night we watched what ended up being my favourite live production while on board called Disney Wishes.  It was a fun musical about 3 teenage friends graduating from high school who had met during a trip to Disney as kids and a friendship was born then.  I really enjoyed it although I’d have to say I really enjoyed all of the shows!  During most of the shows something shoots out of the ceiling and Hannah leaps off her seat to collect whatever she can.  This night was no exception but what happened next warmed this Mommy’s heart!  She gave me a handful of treasures to hold for her (circles of tissue paper) but then wanted to keep some with her.  It ends up she wanted to walk around the ship and share her ‘treasures’ with other children who didn’t have any.  She was so sweet and the kids receiving them were so appreciative!  Check out this little girl’s sweet face.  Oh how I love my girl and her caring, sharing heart!!!
From here we followed our nightly routine of AquaDuck and a swim.  Check out how beautiful the top decks are at night!  It was a whole new world at night and we thoroughly enjoyed our time up there under the stars!