On thing that was quite different on the last day was the caffeine meet up scheduled for our group on Deck 11 at the Cove Cafe. Any drink you would normally get with milk or cream can have soy milk substituted in place of the dairy! I got a frozen caramel thingie with soy milk, while Kevin got a soy latte! The drinks here must be paid for separately from the cost of the cruise.

Dinner was again at Royal Palace, but with a different menu, since the previous night had a special pirate menu. We’d ordered the night before for tonight, a simple side salad to start, and the same brownie sundae per usual to finish. I loved the pasta from the night before so much that I just got it again! It was gluten-free, vegan pasta with roasted garlic and olive oil for the sauce with broccoli and spinach. Kevin got grilled tofu on top of roasted veggies, like red peppers, eggplant and zucchini. It looked really good, but I don’t usually go for something like that, so I took his word for it that it was delicious!

It was Wednesday night, so we headed up to Deck 11 where Lou said he would be broadcasting the show! Kevin and I were the only ones there at first, then, as time went on, more and more Box People started joining us! The reason we were there so early is because we left dinner early to be there! It was all very exciting, especially when one of us logged into UStream and saw Lou coming down the steps right towards us! I’m proud to say I finally escaped the Box!

Angie has been a WDW addict since her first visit at age 8, and since then her life has never been the same! She lives in southeastern MA with her boyfriend, Kevin (fellow Disney lover), and their 3 dogs, Flip, Josie, and Hildy, where she is currently training to become a professional dog trainer.  Please join Angie every week in “Fish Are Friends, Not Food: Eating Vegan in WDW!” Angie believes that WDW is the most magical place for people with special diets, so, should you have any special diet questions (especially about vegan and gluten-free dining) she’d be happy to help! Angie is also an artist, and you can see her work at www.angiecarreiro.com!

The post Fish Are Friends, Not Food: Being Vegan on the Last Day of the WDW Radio Cruise appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

We’d stayed up pretty late the previous night to attend the WDW Radio pajama party. It was a blast! Tony Caggiano’s costume will live on as a WDW Radio legend, as anyone who was there (or has seen pictures) will know, and Kevin and I got extra dream keys for matching!

According to our handy dandy itinerary print outs in our yellow lanyard card holders, the group picture on Castaway Cay would be taken at 9am. 9AM!?! ‘You kiddin’ me?! How was I supposed to “party” all night, then be photo-op ready by 9am!? It actually wasn’t that big of a deal because I had Kevin, who apparently needs much less sleep than I do. He woke up before me, went literally next door to the Enchanted Garden breakfast buffet and got some stuff to bring back to the room. What we got was quite similar to the morning before: Bananas, watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and fried potatoes. Kevin also got some baked tomato concoction, not really my thing, and we both got coffees with soymilk (we actually saved soymilk from the night before and brought it back to the room and put it in the mini fridge so we wouldn’t have to ask for some in the morning!)

Lunch was to be on Castaway Cay, so was the ice cream party for WDWRadio. We had talked to our head server Goncalo the previous night about this, and he took our orders for Cookies, the name of the “quick service,” buffet-style eatery on the island. This was actually a funny story because I ordered another gluten-free, vegan pizza, like the one I’d had that night (with soy cheese!) and Kevin ordered a gluten-free, vegan veggie burger with french fries, but apparently Goncalo AND our normal table server BOTH put the order in, so we got double the order. Needless to say, Kevin was a very happy, and full boy!

For the ice cream party, Goncalo had some Rice Dream ice cream sent to the island and it was quite good! While on the island, we also bought some specialty drinks, both “accidentally vegan.” I got a Pina Colada, which some might think had dairy, but it is actually made with coconut cream, and Kevin got a strawberry daiquiri, which the cast member informed us was completely dairy free!

That night was Pirate Night. We dressed as pirates for dinner at the Royal Palace. We’d both ordered the same thing the night before: Gluten free pasta with roasted garlic and olive oil sauce, broccoli, spinach, and tomatoes. They could have done marinara sauce for us, but we wanted this. We started with a pretty plain salad, and bland tapioca rolls, but ended with a similar dessert to the previous nights, but with a Pirate twist! Normally we had a gluten free, vegan brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, but this night they added rum to the batter, since the special dessert was rum-cake for that night!

Angie has been a WDW addict since her first visit at age 8, and since then her life has never been the same! She lives in southeastern MA with her boyfriend, Kevin (fellow Disney lover), and their 3 dogs, Flip, Josie, and Hildy, where she is currently training to become a professional dog trainer.  Please join Angie every week in “Fish Are Friends, Not Food: Eating Vegan in WDW!” Angie believes that WDW is the most magical place for people with special diets, so, should you have any special diet questions (especially about vegan and gluten-free dining) she’d be happy to help! Angie is also an artist, and you can see her work at www.angiecarreiro.com!

The post Fish Are Friends, Not Food: Day 5 of my Disney Trip (aka Day 3 of the WDW Radio Cruise 2.0!) appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Last we met, I was talking about how we had just boarded the ship.

We were hungry, but didn’t want to take a chance on missing the first WDWRadio event on board the Disney Dream. We boarded the ship on Deck 3, and the first event of the cruise was in D-Lounge which was just one floor up, so we headed up! In D-Lounge our group set up different stations with tables assigned for certain things. We signed up for the flag contest, door decorating contest, and stateroom tours. MEI/Mousefan gave us our cruise credentials (a name tag on the infamous yellow lanyards), a neat backpack with the WDWRadio Dream Cruise 2.0 logo on it (I still use mine at least once a week when I go up to Boston for the day), and itineraries. There was a Bingo game as an ice breaker game which really helped us meet a lot of people right off the bat! We also received our scavenger hunt papers, but somehow lost them at some point along the way.

It was food time, we decided, so we headed up to deck 11 where they had a Car’s themed cafeteria style eatery. We both got a side salad, fruit, and some french fries. A little boring, but just a snack to hold us over.

We checked out our stateroom to drop off our things and the room was HUGE! It was also located right near The Enchanted Garden restaurant, which came in handy when we wanted to sleep as late as possible in the mornings, but still have time to get ready and get going fast!

We’d been given some great advice when chatting with Emily from BabyCakes NYC a couple days before; if you have a special diet, talk to guest services even if you’ve already made a note of it on your reservation! We decided to do this before any more fun events started onboard. We were actually pretty lucky because on our way to Guest Services, we boarded the elevator with a Cast Member who worked at Guest Services and she brought us to where we needed to go! Rather than Guest Services, we were brought to an empty restaurant on the 3rd Deck called Royal Palace. There were 2 head chefs sitting at a table, both with laptops, talking to guests with special diets. There were only 2 sets of guests ahead of us when we arrived and we waited less than 10 minutes until it was our turn.

When we spoke with the chef, we realized he was very well-versed on what our special diets entailed. He immediately started discussing vegan options, then would say things like, “but this isn’t gluten free, so we will make it gluten free for you.” He noted that we would be eating at Animator’s Palate that night and took our order for the night. It was all very easy!

Dinner time rolled around and we headed to the restaurant. Unfortunately the first night somehow our order was lost, so it was the latest of the table’s coming out, but we had much better luck for the rest of the trip. Our waiter came out and we explained that we already placed our order and he checked on its status. Eventually we were served as follows:

Tapioca Dinner Rolls- they were quite dry, but it was nice to have the option! I’ve had these before and usually only like them as a bun for something else, like a veggie burger with toppings that can add flavor to the bun. Kevin ate the rolls, I had one bite and decided to save room for the rest of the meal.

Butternut Squash Soup- I’m not much of a soup person, but there was something about this soup that made me wish I could eat it all day, everyday. It had the perfect consistency and the right amount of every flavor of goodness. I’m not a food critic, so excuse the awful descriptions, but it was just so tasty!

Salad- I usually love having salad with my meal. It adds lots of fiber, without making you feel too full, but this salad was just too much! They gave us a meal sized salad instead of a side salad and for some reason I tried to eat it all! It was pretty bland and not very creative, but that’s ok, because the main course made up for it!

Black Bean Chipotle Cakes on top of Fried Rice- I was expecting this to be just some generalized, plain vegan option, like, “hey, they don’t eat meat? Just give ‘em some beans!” but it ended up being full of just the right flavors. The outside was cooked perfectly so it was crisp and the inside was smooth. I would have gotten this for every meal if I didn’t want to try new things for the rest of the cruise!

….and for dessert- Brownies with Rice Dream Ice Cream on top!- For some reason I didn’t think something like this would have been an option. Going on the cruise, I thought that maybe there would be ice cream, which was easy to get from a container, but I never thought that they would take the time to actually bake us a special dessert! A lot of people will describe gluten free desserts as a hit or miss, because if you aren’t using the right flours it might be too crumbly or too heavy, but they did a great job with the brownies! I wouldn’t have known they were gluten free otherwise!

We also got coffee with vanilla flavored Silk soy milk, which is something we used to buy at home (we like almond milk better now, though.)

All of this was gluten free and vegan (even Kevin got his stuff gluten free just to be less confusing). It was all surprisingly good, too! I’m sort-of picky about what I will eat, but I ate as much food as I could that night!

At some point during our meal our head waiter came out, Goncalo. He was really great! He understood our diets very well and was willing to get us anything we wanted. He was from Portugal and explained that he has two brothers back home that are vegan as well! One of his brother’s families are being raised vegan, too, so he clearly has a grasp on what the diet entails! We we very comforted in knowing this!

After we ate, our waiter took our order for the next night after we glanced at the menu for that night, but I’ll save the fine details for the next post!

All-in-all the first night of eating on the cruise was a success! My advice for before or after dinner, ALWAYS go see the shows scheduled to compliment your dinner time, they are well worth it!

Angie has been a WDW addict since her first visit at age 8, and since then her life has never been the same! She lives in southeastern MA with her boyfriend, Kevin (fellow Disney lover), and their 3 dogs, Flip, Josie, and Hildy, where she is currently training to become a professional dog trainer.  Please join Angie every week in “Fish Are Friends, Not Food: Eating Vegan in WDW!” Angie believes that WDW is the most magical place for people with special diets, so, should you have any special diet questions (especially about vegan and gluten-free dining) she’d be happy to help! Angie is also an artist, and you can see her work at www.angiecarreiro.com!

The post Fish Are Friends, Not Food: Being Vegan Aboard the Disney Dream-Trip Report appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Kevin and I decided it best to wake up before 8am, even though the shuttle from our resort to Port Canaveral wasn’t to arrive until 11am. The reason for this, for all of you future resort-to-cruise travelers, is because, if you want Disney to take care of your luggage for you (that is, bring it from your resort to the ship), they start coming around to pick up luggage at 8am. Another morning of vegan, gluten-free Mickey Waffles, home-fries, and coffee to start the day, then we were off!

We explored the other All-Star Resorts and picked up a couple of souvenirs I had my eye on; charms for my Pandora bracelet! I got a Minnie bow and a pink classic Mickey. All-Star Music is still my favorite themed of the 3 All-Stars (and seemingly the most popular and well kept), but staying in All-Star Sports this time around made more sense, since we only stayed 2 nights and it was the cheapest of the 3!

(Now, I’d like to really explain the process from the Ground Transportation to the Check-In for the cruise in detail, because not everyone who travels to WDW has been on a cruise. For me, I feel like a pro when it comes to knowing my way around WDW, but it was as if I was in a foreign place when it came time to plan and get to the cruise! I hope that this post will help other first-timers!)

Time rolled around to check-in for the shuttle, so we went back to our rooms to pick up the bags we had packed to take on as carry-ons. The check-in for the shuttle was in the same lobby as the resort check-in/out, but it wasn’t obvious to us where we should go. We asked a Cast Member at the resort check-out desk while we were checking-out and they directed us to the counter across the lobby. It was then that we noticed the Cast Member holding a clip board appropriately labeled as the Disney Cruise Line (DCL) shuttle service. We asked if we had time to pick up a snack and she said we had 10 minutes, so we walked over to the food court and picked up a fruit cup and a bag of the Disney brand BBQ Kettle Chips, both foods being vegan! When we got back over to the shuttle, there were a lot more people, some that had opted to carry on all of their luggage instead of having it brought to their room, and we started lining up to get on the bus! Those with luggage put it in the compartment below the seating area on the outside of the bus, while small carry-ons could be with you on the bus. The bus already had other people on it from other resorts, but our group filled it up pretty fast!

Some quick notes about traveling to Port Canaveral via Ground Transfer Shuttle from your Disney Resort:

-  When you initially check-in to your resort, let the Cast Member know you will be taking the shuttle on so-and-so date. They will tell you what time the shuttle comes and where to wait.

-  The night before your cruise, you will receive luggage tags (much like the ones for Disney’s Magical Express) in your room. The tags are for the service Disney provides to take your bags on board for you. Your bags eventually arrive at your on-board stateroom door. You may also receive Magical Express tags in your room (like we did), so make sure you are putting the correct tags on your luggage! Once they pick up your luggage, you don’t see it again until you are on the ship, so make sure you have appropriate ID (for access to the bus and the cruise ship) and all necessary cruise documentation to board the ship on your person instead of inside your luggage!

-  You will not receive a voucher for the Ground Transfer shuttle service, rather your name is on a clip-boarded list carried by the Cast Member guiding you to the bus. You tell her your name and a show of ID, in this case we had our passports, and she checks your name off of the list!

-  Because we didn’t book our flight through Disney, there was a fee for the Ground Transfer; $70 per person round trip. The extra fee on top of our plane tickets was still significantly cheaper than booking the flight through Disney!

-  On the bus, there are tv screens that play a Welcome to DCL type of video, some Disney cartoons, and a special America’s Funniest Videos episode where the host is on board a Disney ship! There is also a small bathroom in back, with no sink, just hand sanitizer. I recommend sitting at least one seat back from the tv screen unless you want to strain your neck trying to look up at one!

The bus ride there is an estimated 90 minute ride, but really doesn’t seem that way if you keep yourself occupied (or take a nap). Now, this is actually a “being vegan in Disney” blog, so let me mention that on the way to the port, Kevin had a Clif bar that I packed in my carry-on, while I ate my Luna Bar and bag of BBQ Kettle Chips! I mentioned in a previous post that all Clif bars and Luna bars are vegan when it comes to their energy/protein bars, but it’s worth mentioning again!

When we were almost there, the bus driver pointed out that, though you could see the ship from where we were, he would be pulling in a certain way so we could get better pictures! The bus pulled right up to the port, and we were instructed on where to go.

It was only a short walk to the security check point. The security here is much easier than airport security. You don’t have to take off your jewelry or shoes, but you still have to remove metal items from your pockets and take off your belt. Your things are placed in a plastic bin that rides through a metal detector as you are stepping through one as well, then it’s off to the check-in counters!

The check-in is on one floor up, which you can take an escalator to. It’s pretty obvious where you need to go when you get in there. We saw a sign when we arrived on the floor to the left that said “check-in.” There, a cast member stood between the entrance to two lines. One line was backed up to the very end and the other was completely empty. He asked us if we’d ever been on DCL before and we both said “No,” and he directed us to the non-existent line! It was nice being first in line after not having to wait at all, and Kevin mentioned to the Cast Member standing near us that we expected to go into the long line. She said that it was because we were returning customers and the other line was for first timers. We said, “but we told the Cast Member over there that this is our first time, too!” and she shrugged her shoulders and said, “Oh well!”

Mwahaha!

At the Check-In counter we showed the Cast Member our passports, and the paper we had printed out after doing the online check-in with our signatures on it. Disney Cruise Line encourages you to do the online check-in, where you fill out your contact information, flight info, credit card which you will be charging everything to, etc. You then print out the last page which you just sign and bring with you. They also ask you your room number, so be ready to answer that, because we weren’t! The Cast Member asked if we would be taking advantage of the Airport Check-in service where they take your bags the last night of the cruise, much like Magical Express, and bring them to your flight. This service is for participating airlines only, which JetBlue is. You will need to know your flight number to do this. They also check you in to your flight and your boarding passes arrive in your room the night before you depart, but enough talking about departing and more talking about arriving!

The Cast Member took our picture together, no hats or sunglasses, and we were given our room keys, which are also the keys that you must use any time you board or exit the ship. They are also what you use to charge items to, much like your Keys to the World.

We decided to skip taking a picture before boarding, because the lines were so long. It was just about 1pm when we finally stepped on board the ship, and we were welcomed via loud speaker onto the ship, “Welcome Carreiro Family!” And the Cast Members standing at the entrance all clapped for us!

The first WDWRadio event was already in progress in D-Lounge, so we decided to head up there, but let’s save that for the next post (which will also include much more about vegan and special diet dining aboard the ship!)…

Angie has been a WDW addict since her first visit at age 8, and since then her life has never been the same! She lives in southeastern MA with her boyfriend, Kevin (fellow Disney lover), and their 3 dogs, Flip, Josie, and Hildy, where she is currently training to become a professional dog trainer.  Please join Angie every week in “Fish Are Friends, Not Food: Eating Vegan in WDW!” Angie believes that WDW is the most magical place for people with special diets, so, should you have any special diet questions (especially about vegan and gluten-free dining) she’d be happy to help! Angie is also an artist, and you can see her work at www.angiecarreiro.com!

The post Saying Good-Bye to Our Resort, and Checking-In to Our Ship: The Disney Dream! appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Disney Cruise Line gives children a chance to get away from their parents (or is it a chance for the parents to get away from the kids?) and explore on their own with kids their age.  There are 5 basic “clubs” where the younger ages can go on the Disney Dream – It’s a Small World Nursery, The Oceaneer Club and Lab, Edge and Vibe.  The age restrictions are appropriate, but some of us happen to go at a time where we are in the “in between age” – or when you are welcome to go into 2 exclusive areas at once.  To go into Edge, you have to be between 11 and 14 years old.  To attend Vibe, the age range is between 14 and 17.  I am fourteen, which means that I could go to both.  I did visit both, and this is how I compare the two.  Is it better to be the oldest or the youngest?

Edge

I went to Edge first.  Edge is inside one of the smokestacks and bigger than I expected but, in my opinion, still small on the inside.  There was a dance floor that lit up the room and a wall that was basically a giant TV, displaying events that the kids in the Edge would be participating in throughout the cruise.  There was a small section for video games, a green screen, and a bunch of computers.

My brother, Austin, and our friend Courtney (whose family was also on the ship) also fell into the Edge age range so we went as a group.  I am a very shy person, so I was glad to go with people that I already knew.  One of my penpals, Mallory, was in there also.  We walked in during the middle of what seemed like a show of some sort with the counselors acting crazy, but also explaining the rules like pick up after yourselves, and don’t come into Edge when you’re wet.  It was a lot of fun to watch.  After this we played a game called Human Bingo.  This was VERY familiar to me because I did it both at the NYC Meet of the Month last June and just a few hours earlier in the D Lounge with other WDW Radio cruisers.  Each square had something like met a celebrity, can sing “A Whole New World”, and likes sushi.  You had to walk around and find somebody who fits the criteria in the square without repeating people.  It was challenging!  Next we played Gender Wars, which is exactly as it sounds.  It was Boys vs. Girls.  The boys were asked girl questions and the girls were asked boy questions.  I remember one question to the boys was “Name 5 of the Cullens” and one to our team was “Name 5 people who have played James Bond.”  This was my favorite game of the night.  As expected, the girls won by a few points.  We decided to leave after this (it was eleven at night and we wanted FOOD!)

Overall, this experience was very organized.  You didn’t really have a lot of freedom because the counselors had games already organized.  Some of the jokes were definitely aimed at the younger crowd, and sometimes it could be a little chaotic, whether the noise level was too loud, or teams weren’t working together and arguing over everything.  I personally thought it was fun, but it could have been more fun if there was more to do or a bigger area.

Vibe

Finding Vibe was a challenge.  We had to go through hallways that led to rooms (if that makes sense) instead of walking through hallways that were expected to be used by many people (like the path to Animator’s Palate).  A Cast Member who was in the area had to lead us to the entrance.  As soon as she saw it, she pointed to it and went back to work.  My dad and I (my brother and Mom were somewhere else) looked for a way to get inside this air tight door, when I remembered all the research I did for this trip.  I found a box and scanned my room key.  The door opened up and I could see the other side.  Lights covered the doorway and flashed different colors.  The door shut behind me.  I was now on my own.  I walked forward and saw two group counselors and a group of kids sitting by the smoothie bar but I wanted to explore the place for myself.  There were what looked like portholes on the wall, but they were just these really cool seats that you could lie down in and watch TV.  There was a wall similar to the one in Edge – it was a huge TV that displayed upcoming events.  In the room connected to this, there was a second room with a bunch of video games and computers.  There was one counselor in this area.  I sat in one of these chairs – that – look – like – portholes and watched some of the results of the Presidential election come in.  Eventually a counselor came over and invited me to join the group of kids.  They were telling corny jokes.  After our pity laughs fizzled out, we started a game called Gaga Ball, which was kind of like dodgeball but you were in a circle and the ball had to be touching the floor at all times.  It was fun, but I decided to leave after one round of this game.  I found my way out, went back to my stateroom then met up with my family.

Vibe would be a great place to go if you are comfortable talking to new people.   I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought for a few reasons.  I am shy so I didn’t just walk up to the group, I was asked my age many times because I look younger (and it seemed that during my cruise the next youngest person was 16) and the activities really weren’t my style.  Also, I visited the third night of the cruise, and it seemed that all of the teens already knew each other and had formed relationships so it was difficult to jump in and join them.

I think that both Edge and Vibe had their pros and cons, but both had more cons then pros.  Vibe had more technology, but you had to build the relationships on your own.  At Edge, you played a few fun games, but definitely most the activities and jokes were geared to the younger end of the spectrum.  I personally would prefer to do the scheduled cruise activities like family game shows, towel folding lessons, cooking classes and meeting characters (I will always love doing that), hang out at the pool or Aquaduck or, in this case, the WDW Radio activities ( like the opening ceremony, pool party, meet ups, tours and the farewell party).  What I would recommend is to do everything you want to do before dinner, head to the show, then do Edge or Vibe.  Not a lot of cruise activities are planned for tweens/teens past 10, so this would be good time to check out the clubs.  Personally, I wouldn’t take time out of the day to go to the clubs when there are so many other events going on.

This week’s “Where in the World?” is a difficult one.  It could be mistaken for many things on Walt Disney World property.

See ya REAL soon!
~Makena

The post Edge vs. Vibe on the WDW Radio Cruise 2.0 appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Hi Everyone! With the holiday season in full swing, we wanted to share something from the Disney Cruise Line that might become a new tradition in your home.

If you have been on The Disney Cruise Line, you are always greeted by a towel animal at turn-down. They are a hit with passengers and Cast Members are often asked how they do it. So, when DCL offers their entertaining-based classes on the day(s) at sea, they include a Towel Folding Class hosted by the “Mousekeeping” team. While on the WDW Radio Cruise 2.0, Angie Carriero and her boyfriend, Kevin, invited me to join them at that session. There, we were given the “secrets of transforming an ordinary bath towel into a cute animal”.

Wouldn’t this be a fun way to surprise your overnight guests and bring a little Disney magic home for the holidays?

We used the following (provided at the class):

• One white bath towel (or any solid color you own)
• One white hand towel (or any same solid color you own)

Instructions (please click this link):

Experience the Magic: Towel Folding

Angie, Kevin and I had a great time folding our versions of these little guys.My dog turned out looking like a Shar Pei. Kevin and

Angie pretty much nailed their monkeys. And you might need two people to do the swan.

What will you choose to do for your guests?

Happy Folding! And Happy Holidays!

Fran’s Notes:

~Most Disney Parks Resorts also do Animal Towel Folding, as well as Towel Hidden Mickeys and posing your plush purchases in an action.

~If you love Disney amenity products, The Disney Resort Collection sells some of their custom towels for your home. Next time you are in your resort, look for their brochure.

For Fran Cassano, paper crafts have kept the magic of Disney a part of her everyday life. Fran invites us capture our own memories through Practically Perfect DISNEY Crafting… Break out the tools that have been gathering dust. And let’s figure out how, together!

The post Practically Perfect DISNEY Crafting: Towel Folding Magic For Holiday Guests appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

On Wednesday nights in The Box I have been asked many times how I raised over $1,000 for the Dream Team.  I decided to write a blog about it and maybe inspire someone else to give to a charity they support.  For those of you who couldn’t make it with us on the cruise, I surprised Lou by hopping up on stage and presenting him with a huge, over-sized check to benefit his organization, “The Dream Team Project”, which sends Make-A-Wish kids to Walt Disney World.  Here is the journey of my big check – from just an idea to a presentation at the farewell party on the WDW Radio Dream Cruise 2.0.

I thought of this idea during the 5 Hour Show in February, when Lou and crew were getting a caricature for the next Dream Team auction (ironically enough, I won the auction for this item!).   It was easy to see how much the Dream Team meant to Lou.   Just a few weeks prior to this show I found out that I was going to be onboard for the Dream Cruise 2.0, and I wanted to use the opportunity to do something special to thank Lou for all he does for us (entertaining us on live shows and keeping us informed with the podcasts) and also let him know how much WDW Radio has come to mean to me.  Anybody who knows Lou knows that you can help him by helping someone else so what better way to say thanks than to raise money for the Dream Team.   As soon as I came up with this idea, I ran with it.  I remember I was chatting with Christy soon after I came up with the idea, and she said that I should go for it.  I don’t think either of us realized how big of a project this would become.

I approached my parents, and they thought that this was a great idea.  We originally set a goal of $500, but I quickly raised it to $750.  I wanted to make a HUGE difference, and I thought that $750 would do it.  We thought up ways to raise the money by the cruise, and came up with many ideas that didn’t make the cut, including a car wash and asking for sponsors for us to run a 5K (a VERY strong storm called a derecho hit our area on June 30 and it took my community all summer to recover so most of the summer fundraising ideas had to be cancelled and replaced with storm cleanup).  A few ideas were successful though, including not one, but three bake sales.

In February I made an appointment with our school district superintendent, Dr. Fipp.  We sat at a very large table and I explained that I wanted to have bake sales in March, April and May to raise funds.  I explained the Dream Team in detail and my desire to help kids get to Disney.  We discussed prices, location and times.  Then she told me that I had to get it approved by the Board of Education.  I wasn’t sure why things had to be so complicated, but I went before the Board with my idea, answered their questions and got approval.  When you think bake sales, you probably think of a table of cookies.  Oh no, not these three!  Our first one was kind of a test run in April.  We wanted to see what we needed more of, less of, etc. for our next one.  My mother and I made 3 dozen of everything from cookies and cupcakes to chocolate-covered strawberries and chocolate covered pretzels.  It was held after school in an area that you have to pass in order to leave the building.  We were SWARMED!!!!  People came from all directions, and a few friends and I struggled to keep up.  We were sold out in 15 minutes. We definitely learned to make MORE next time.    Our April bake sale was just as successful but this time parents were sending in requests and teachers were ordering food in advance.  The May bake sale was a month later and a little different. Instead of selling the items after school, we sold them during lunch for the elementary kids and middle schoolers (I was in eighth grade at the time).  We made a lot more items including a few items aimed for the younger kids like Dirt (gummy worms in chocolate pudding covered in crushed Oreos) and Jell-O and some for the teachers, like strawberry shortcake shooters.  We did so much better this time!  The elementary schoolers came in with envelopes that their parents gave them with money so that they could buy a treat.  I remember that one boy gave me and envelope that his mom wrote on. I thought it was just so cute and it was the moment when I realized the caliber of what I was doing – I will help change somebody’s LIFE!  I actually saved it and it still sits on my dresser.  I took a photo of it so you guys could see.  It said “Money to buy a treat at lunch for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.”  Everything at these bake sales was 50 cents each.  Think about that for a second.  That is a LOT of baked goods! And let me tell you, we could NOT get the smell of cookies out of our house for DAYS!

Another thing that I did was hold a letter campaign for relatives.  We sent out letters bearing the Dream Team logo and explaining what I was trying to do in May and June.  I got a lot of donations just from sending out a simple letter to a few people.

I was able to hold a yard sale over the summer.  It was in late August, and it was HOT!  I woke up early in the morning to set up and stayed out in the heat until late in the afternoon. We sold a lot of items, but still left with more stuff then we were hoping for.  The deal was that if I helped out during the yard sale, all of our profits went to the Dream Team Project.  Since I did this, more money was added to the grand total.

Our last fundraising effort was a coin drop at school in September but that had to be cancelled, as well.  Another side effect of the June storm was mold in the school so we didn’t go back until the very end of the month.  That was okay – I had already passed my goal of $750 and was excited to see what I would actually end up with.

Of course, I thought it would be REALLY fun to present Lou with a giant check like they do on television shows.  Presentation matters, right?  We ordered it towards the beginning of October and it came two weeks before the cruise.  I was so excited!  I was actually going through with this.  And in just a few more weeks, I would be on a Disney cruise holding it once again.

November 4^th came faster than I could have imagined.  The months had flown by and I was on the ship, in the D Lounge talking to my new friends before we sailed away.  I knew then that I wasn’t going to be as shy as I usually am when I get up on stage.  In the blink of an eye, it was (sadly) the final day of the cruise.  I woke up and went to Cabana’s for breakfast.  My brother and I ran around finding a few picture frames to finish our Midship Detective Agency missions (an activity on the ship that we did) before it was time for the WDW Radio pool party.  After the pool party, there was about an hour before the farewell party.  We got dressed in our dinner clothes (dinner was held immediately after the party) and I grabbed my speech and the check.

Then came a feeling that I had never felt before.   I was SO excited and nervous at the same time that I thought I was going to explode.  I was literally pacing around the room with my speech in hand, reading it over and over again.  I started sweating about the small stuff.  What if I unroll the check upside down?  What if I drop something?  What if, what if, what if.  That’s all that filled my mind on the way to the farewell party in Club Evolution.

When we were waiting to get in, I held the paper so that the words would face me and practiced over and over again.  I was surprised that nobody mentioned that I was talking to myself.  What seemed like an eternity later, we finally walked in and took a seat.  We were lucky enough to get seats right in front of the stage and right in front of the steps.  I talked to a few other Box People like Fran and AJ before Lou and Beci approached the stage.  I got chills.  Keep in mind, I knew that I was supposed to receive a cue, but I had no idea when or who was going to give it, Christy or Beci.  Lou thanked us all for coming and announced the winners for the flag and door decorating contest.  Next was the auction.  The auction was for the Dream Team, so I knew that my time was coming soon.  Christy grabbed the mic from Lou, so now Beci and Christy had the microphones.  After revealing the total from the auction, Beci and Christy started a “But wait, there’s more” banter.  Beci said, “I think that there is someone in the audience who has something to add to that”, and I finally knew that it was my cue!

You could tell that I was happy because I SKIPPED on stage which just shows how excited I was.  (I had no idea that I did that until my parents told me later.)  I said hi to Lou and he replied “oh…hi,” almost as if it was a question.  I could tell that he was expecting anybody but ME to be on stage.  I turned to face the audience and Lou grabbed my shoulder.  “For the record, I have no idea what is going on,” he said giving off a laugh.  I knew deep down he was probably VERY nervous because of the surprise on the cruise the previous year when he was roasted.  Beci gave me the microphone.  I held up my paper, and started to recite my speech.  It was my time … what I had been waiting for.

Re-watching the footage that my parents took, I thought it was interesting how the mood changed as soon as I mentioned The Dream Team.  Lou looked down and it got very quiet in the room. Everybody realized what I was about to do.  However, before I mentioned the check, I talked about how I got involved in WDW Radio.  When I said my screen name in the box, everybody clapped and made noise, which made me feel great.  I knew I was in a room with people I had talked to before.  I went on, talking about how I raised the money.  Soon enough, my brother handed me the check, and I unrolled it. Everybody clapped even before I said the total (the grand total ended up being $1067.00!).  I looked to my left and saw Lou looking back, smiling very wide.  He hugged me, and said things like “Way to go, kiddo” and “I am so proud of you.”  I don’t think I could have smiled any more.  We broke apart and we took pictures together with the check.

You might not know it, but I am really, REALLY shy.  I only stuttered once, held the check correctly and everybody laughed when they were supposed to.  I was so comfortable on that stage that it was unbelievable (but I was really happy to get off the stage anyway).  I think that the reason I wasn’t as nervous as I usually am in front of people is because I knew I was in front of my friends!  I wasn’t in front of a classroom, where I am only comfortable with a few people in the room.  I wasn’t performing in front of a bunch of strangers.  I was in front of people that mean a lot to me.  I knew that everybody would understand the jokes and there wouldn’t be awkward silences.

The moral of the story is that doing this brought me a lot of happiness.  My parents have always told us that it’s better to do for someone else than for yourself.  No matter how big or small the donation – or even if it’s not money but time, food or toys – we can all make a difference in someone else’s life.  My suggestion is to find a charity that supports a cause that is meaningful to you and then look for a corresponding group of people that work to aid what you love.  My brother, Austin who is 11, raised money for the ASPCA because he loves animals.  Both Austin and I have fundraised for the Special Olympics and a good friend of ours, Courtney, collected thousands of stuffed animals for the kids in Haiti after their natural disaster.  When you help somebody to this magnitude, you feel so joyful and blissful afterwards.  It’s unlike any other feeling.  It is probably the best feeling you can ever have.

Do you have a charity that you are passionate about?  Do you have any questions for me?  Leave a comment below!

Congratulations to Lindsey D. who got last week’s “Where in the World?” correct.  It was the top of the Adventureland sign in Magic Kingdom.

This is my final blog.  No not forever, just of my first year.  That’s right!  My 1 year anniversary is coming soon!  December 6th is the big day.  I can’t believe it’s been a year already. I am looking forward to all the fun we will have together in my next 52 blogs!

See ya REAL soon!
~Makena

Quote of the Week:  “Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.” –Walt Disney

The post The Journey of the Big Check on the WDW Radio Cruise 2.0 appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

I was so happy that many of you approached me on the WDW Radio Cruise 2.0 to discuss projects. I’ve covered simple Disney-themed ideas these last few months to get us started crafting together. And now, some projects by others just have to be shared. This week, I invited a friendly face over to Practically Perfect DISNEY Crafting. Please welcome my guest Angie Carriero from Fish Are Friends, Not Food. Angie crafted these amazing gifts for her Fish Extender Group (which I was lucky to be in).

Just in time for the holidays, we thought you’d like to see how she created them.

Hey everyone! It’s Angie….. yo…I have the pleasure of writing a little guest piece on my Fish Extender gift to everyone in our group: a scrapbook! And I’d like to show you all how easy it would be to make one for yourself!

Materials:

-Paper Lunch Bags- (I used 8-10 per scrapbook, keep in mind each bag gives you 4 pages!)

-Hole Punch

-Thick String/ Rope- about 2 ft long

-Glue Stick, Tape Runner, or Preferred Adhesive

-Assorted Patterned Craft Paper

-Stickers and/or Printed Pictures of Disney Characters

-Stickers and/or Printed Words and Phrases

-Scissors and/or Paper Cutter

-Optional: Buttons, Strings, Bottle Caps, etc.- Embellishments to Add Flair

-Optional: Hot Glue- To Glue Embellishments

Step 1- Turning the Bags into a Book:

-Fold each paper lunch bag in half so that it ends up in a square shape.

-Along the fold, punch 2 holes close to the fold, but far away enough that it won’t compromise the integrity of the bag. I punch the holes about 1 inch away from either edge, but this isn’t a strict rule, as long as they aren’t too close to the middle or to each other.

-Repeat with each bag.

-Once this is done to all of your bags, layer them on top of each other and string a thick rope through all of the holes on the bottom of the soon-to-be book, from the front to the back.

-Take that same rope and string it through the top holes of the book, from the back to the front.

-At this point you can tie the two ends of the rope together in the middle any way you would like. Leave a good amount of slack or you won’t be able to turn the pages (test the turning-ability of the book before tying a permanent knot!) For the scrapbooks I made for the FE exchange, I tied the ends of the rope around the strip of the rope that ran through the two end hole punches, made a bow, then knotted it.

-You now have the foundation of the book!

Step 2- Preparing Page Decorations:

-Each page will be about 5”x5” depending on where you punched your holes. Take your patterned craft paper and, with your scissors or paper cutter, cut assorted sizes no larger than 5”x5”. Multiply the amount of bags you used by 4 and that will tell you how many pages you need to cover with craft paper. I like to have enough paper for at least 1 piece of craft paper for each page, so if you used 10 bags, you would need 40 assorted sizes of cut craft paper no larger than 5”x5”. The easiest way to do this is take one sheet of craft paper and do all of your measurements, then stack all of the other craft paper sheets underneath, and cut them all together.

-If you have Disney Stickers, then your other page-decor is all set. In my case, I needed to print my own! I searched for Disney pictures on the internet and printed out about 25 images per 8”x10” sheet of printer paper. You want the images small, because they are just there to accompany the pictures you will be pasting into your scrapbook. I used good quality card stock for my images, but any paper would work for this. Cut out each image. To keep things neat, I only used images with no background and cut out a rectangle around them.

- Create some phrases in a text document that might apply to your vacation. For example, for the Disney Dream Cruise you might have printed out, “WDWRadio Disney Dream Cruise 2.0 Nov. 4-8 2012,” in a 4”x4” format to use for the first page of the scrapbook. You might also print words such as, “Aqua Duck,” “Memories,” “Remember that time when…,” and “Meeting Mickey!” Remember to print these small as well, so your pictures fit alongside the words on each page. Cut these to size.

- Either print out lines on paper or cut up sheets of lined notebook paper to use for funny or interesting memories you may want to record in your scrapbook.

Step 3- Creating Colorful Pages!:

-Take all of the pieces of paper you cut out, stickers, images, and lined paper and start gluing! The best scrapbooks I made had at least one piece of craft paper per page and at least 1 saying or image/sticker as well. Pair some pages with creative themes. For example if your paper looks like bubbles, make sure the word or image has something to do with swimming or a water ride! I also liked to add themed pages with “Dining” and “Funny Moments” with the lined paper, so that the families could later record what they ate, or something funny that happened on the boat. Paste away, just remember you will be adding in photographs from your trip, so don’t take up too much room with the images/stickers and sayings, but please feel free to take up the whole page with your craft paper, as you can just overlay the photographs on top of the paper later!

-Since I made my scrapbooks as a gift, I added a page to the back with my contact information, so feel free to do the same if this is a gift you are making for someone else!

-After the whole book seems done, realize you might want to add more. This is where the “optional” portion comes in. Heat up your glue gun, if you’d like, and go back through each page and add in buttons, strings, and any semi-flat embellishments you’d like to jazz up the book!

Step 4- Adding the Final Touches:

-During your vacation, think of pictures you might want to take to add to your scrapbook once you get home. The openings of the bags also make great places to insert some of the paper keepsakes you may have saved along the way like maps, keycards, and receipts!

-Once you get home from vacation, print out pictures you would like to add to your book! Cut them to the appropriate size and paste or tape them onto each page!

Thank you, Angie! We absolutely love it!

I’ll be inviting some more of our WDW Radio Family on over, so stay tuned.

For Fran Cassano, paper crafts have kept the magic of Disney a part of her everyday life. Fran invites us capture our own memories through Practically Perfect DISNEY Crafting… Break out the tools that have been gathering dust. And let’s figure out how, together!

The post Practically Perfect DISNEY Crafting: Be Our Guest, Angie Carriero appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

It’s hard to believe we all just got back from the WDW Radio Cruise 2.0 on the Disney Dream. And as far as additional activities went, there were many to choose from. In fact, several of us participated in the “Cruise Cabin Door Decorating Contest”.

Now, a few of you might be wondering about decorating a cabin, or stateroom door for a Disney voyage. It’s easiest to look at the door as a blank canvas or that it can act like a huge scrapbook page. Decorating it can get you pumped up for your upcoming or current trip. And it can also mark memories of a previous voyage. On Disney cruises, stateroom doors introduce families or individuals to members of their Fish Extender Group, other passengers (aka Guests), Cast Members and crew.

It’s a small piece of your Disney life that you want to share while we are at sea.
Check our these incredible stateroom doors of our fellow WDW Radio cruisers!

WDW Radio Bloggers MakAttack98 (with her family) and Angie Carriero pose with their respective doors.

There was a beautiful tribute to our friend, Nolan.  His mother and sister joined us and invited friends to leave notes and memories of Nolan.

A few of the other themes included: Disney Parks, WDW Radio events (with recordings!), magnet collections, the music of the Sherman Brothers, Vinylmation, Up, Funnelvision, Phineas and Ferb, and actual scrapbook pages. There were so many wonderful cabin decorations. So, I apologize to anyone whose stateroom door I missed in posting.

Big, huge thank yous to Lou, Beci, and the team at MEI-Mouse Fan Travel for pre-decorating our doors with some fabulous flair.

How will you decorate your stateroom door on your next trip? Or WDW Radio Cruise 3.0?

Happy decorating!

The “Sherman Brothers Music” and “Dream of Adventures” cabin door photos are courtesy of Lou Mongello. All other photos are by Fran Cassano.

For Fran Cassano, paper crafts have kept the magic of Disney a part of her everyday life. Fran invites us capture our own memories through Practically Perfect DISNEY Crafting… Break out the tools that have been gathering dust. And let’s figure out how, together!

The post Storyboarding Your Life: Decorated Stateroom Doors on the WDW Radio Cruise appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

Yoho Yoho!  This be a tale with pirates a plenty!  Okay I am just going to stop that right now. Pirate night on the WDW Radio Cruise occurred on the third night of the voyage.

The adventure started when we walked into our room after a long day at Castaway Cay.  On our bed, four bandanas rested with a letter explaining the events for the night.  We put on our dinner outfits (Black and white!) and our bandanas to proudly show our support for our pirates.  We had a few minutes to spare before dinner, so we hopped in line to meet Hook and Smee.  There were three of us in line – me, my brother, and Courtney (our friend who went with us.)  I volunteered to go last because I had something planned.

I love interacting with Disney characters.  I think it is important to give the character a memory that THEY will not forget, instead of it being the other way around like it usually is.  I would think of something witty to say to spark a reaction or give them a gift of some sort.  I honestly think that I have the best character interactions, if I do say so myself.  Here is a prime example.  I let Courtney and my brother go in front of me, because I knew what I was going to do would be a grand finale.  They got their picture and moved on.  It was my turn.  I approached Smee first and asked him a question.  “Smee, may I ask you a question?”  He nodded his head.  “Why are you still Hook’s sidekick?  You are much more evil then he is.”  He made a giggling motion and hugged me.  Hook on the other hand, wasn’t so happy.  I was expecting him to point his hook at me threateningly or something of the sort but no. He walked away, giving me the ‘whatever’ signal.  No, I don’t mean take two stepsthen turn around.  We were in front of the Walt Disney Theater, and he literally walked out of the center circle and down the hallway in front on Mickey’s Mates and kept walking.  I just laughed.  My dad checked his watch and said “C’mon Makena, we have to get to dinner.  Just say you’re sorry so we can go.”  I ran to Captain Hook and apologized.  He stared at me and finally walked with me back to the photo spot.  But the fun wasn’t over yet.  He refused to take a picture of me unless I bowed down to him.  I bowed like a prince would, from the waist up, and said that I wasn’t getting on my knees.  He just waved me away and we took the picture together.  Hook wasn’t finished yet.  For the picture, he gripped my braid, almost as if he was going to pull it, but he didn’t.  We wandered away, laughing at what just happened.

We hung around a few minutes because were meeting another party in front of the right entrance to the Walt Disney Theater.  While waiting, a Cast member dressed in pirate attire approached me and said “Why would you break Captain Hook’s heart, especially on a night like this?”  I had no idea how to respond.  I said “Oh, you saw that?”  He said, “I sure did”, to which I responded, “ Well, I told him the truth-Smee is a better villain than him and doesn’t deserve to be his sidekick.  That little codfish got mad and walked away.”  The man nodded like he understood, and walked away.  I think I might have created a memory for him also.

Pirate Night dinner was at the Royal Palace.  Our wait staff was dressed like they belonged on a pirate ship also.  The Head Waiter stood completely still when you walked by him, but he would yell “Arg!” or “Yoho!” and JUMP out at you.  He scared me once along with my mom.  He also came by the tables during the meal and snuck up on some people.  Anyway, onto the food.  For an appetizer I ordered Blackbeard’s Jumbo Crab Cake and Treasures-Of-The-Seas Grilled Shrimp.  My main course was Sea Scallops.  Both were as delicious as I expected.  I made my rounds, talking to other people at their tables.  Marion looked adorable in her little pirate costume and I had to do a double take before I realized that the pirate walking around was Deanna!  When I got back, I ordered Sweet Temptations for dessert.  That was probably my least favorite dessert from the trip, but it was still very good.

After dinner, my brother and I ran over to Deck 12 to watch Mickey and his friends get some new pirate crew members.  We arrived a little bit late, but we got the gist of the show.  Mickey wants to add everybody on the Disney Dream to his pirate crew, but you have to learn the 5 rules about being a pirate.  Rule one was saying “Aye Aye Captain” whenever you receive an order, rule two was learning how to do a pirate jig, rule 3 was taking out your sword in a fierce way (my favorite!), rule four was learning a pirates’ favorite song (Yoho, yoho a pirate’s life for me!) and rule five was that treasure is what pirates love the most (and “shaking your booty from coast to coast”).  After we had mastered all of these rules, Hook and Smee show up and want to take over the ship!  The only way that we can get the ship back is to answer 5 questions about being a pirate correct.  Hook and Smee ask us 5 questions, and they are the rules in the exact same order we had just learned them (how ironic…) then Hook and Smee leave the deck.  Yeah!  We did it!

After this, there were a few hours to fill before the fireworks, so we found our parents and split up.  My brother and I made our trips to Edge and Vibe.  We didn’t do the games or any pirate activities because we have done them when I was younger and we wanted to do something different.  However, next time I go on a Disney Cruise I will participate in the family game.  Nothing really blog – worthy happened in Vibe.  My brother wanted to stay in Edge for the fireworks because he doesn’t like them that much.  When the time came, I met my parents on Deck twelve and got ready to see the night sky explode.

Then the show started.  A villain (I believe it was Blackbeard but I am not entirely sure) was looking for some valuable item.  Jack Sparrow appears out of nowhere at the top of the smokestack and fell down.  There was a pirate chase for a few minutes until finally Captain Jack ends up with the valuable item (I can’t recall what it was).  To celebrate, Captain Jack shoots off the fireworks.  What I loved about these fireworks was that they weren’t sad.  They didn’t have a very reflective meaning behind them like Wishes and Illuminations and there was no portion of the show when the music was slow and sad (of course, unless you put it to “We Go On” like it is in the WDW Radio recap video.  I cried when that part started)!  It was all celebratory and very happy.  I am not a fireworks person.  Don’t get me wrong, I love fireworks but I don’t like loud noises.  But with these, for the first time I watched them on Deck 12 without my hands over my ears – they weren’t as loud as I remember.

All the fun didn’t end after the fireworks.  Everybody started to leave Deck 11 and 12, but I hung back and stayed.  Good thing I did!  J. Harr (I believe that was his name), our host, came back on screen to announce Club Pirate – a family friendly, club–like atmosphere on Deck 11.  I ran down the stairs and joined the cluster of yellow lanyards towards the back of the dance floor.  A lot of people were there to dance with – Lou, Tony, and more!  I remember a conga line specifically, and that was a LOT of fun.  My FAVORITE moment of the night – when “Gangnam Style” started playing.  Everybody knew the dance and we all hopped on our invisible horses and galloped (Whoa, I never thought that I would say that!) Tony did it pretty well, I might add.  When Lou saw me and approached me on the dance floor, the first thing I said was “Is this what Evolution is like?”  This was my Evolution (since I’m only 14, I couldn’t get into the real thing!)  Everybody was singing along to the songs, dancing like nobody was watching (although I fully expect that John caught at least some of the action and it will eventually end up on the Internet), and really having a good time.  If I made a list of my favorite memories from the cruise, this would be on there in an instant!

Overall, Pirate night was my favorite night on the ship.  We all had smiles on our faces with our newest friends.  We danced the night away in our crazy outfits and bandanas.  It really sealed the idea that we were all one group – one family.

Angie C. (who I met on this cruise!) got the last “Where in the World?” question correct.  That photo was taken in Downtown Disney.  It is part of their Christmas tree.

See ya REAL soon!
~Makena

Quote of the Week:  “Show ‘um crew, you know what to do!”  A member of Mickey’s pirate crew, Pirate Night on the Disney Dream.

The post It’s a Pirate Night for Me: The WDW Radio Cruise 2.0 appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.