After bouncing around various discussion boards from Prodigy to AOL, I finally found a home on the DIS Boards.  These discussion boards are sponsored by Dreams Unlimited, an online travel agency specializing in Disney Vacations.  One of my favorite boards has always been the Disney Cruise Line Forum and back in February, jeanneg started a discussion titled, July 5, 2003 Magic...who's going?  a discussion for anyone going on the July 5, 2003 Eastern Disney Magic Cruise sailing to Key West, Grand Cayman,  Cozumel and Disney's Castaway Cay.  I started a list of DIS board members who were joining us on this cruise and by the time we set sail, there were 26 members sailing on this cruise with their families.  Many times I will refer to these wonderful people I had the good fortune of meeting on board by their screen name, which will be listed in bold type.

I had intended to check out of the Animal Kingdom Lodge by 9:30, so that we could get to Port Canaveral by 10:30.  Ever travel with three three teenagers. two of them being girls (okay, so Seth isn't a teenager anymore)?  All sharing one bathroom?  We didn't end up leaving until 9:30 and got to the port an hour later.  After showing our documentation to be allowed in, Judy was directed to a curbside spot where we unloaded our luggage.  They were allowing us to park in the adjacent lot, which they weren't allowing people to do when we cruised a year and half ago, so Judy went to park, while the kids and I went inside.  The terminal was already bustling and the line to board was all the way to the escalator.  Seth and Elana got on line, while Sara waited for Judy to let her know where I was. I went to the Castaway Club member line, since it seemed to be the best bet.  That's not always the case, as I've been told, but today it definitely was.  There was only one family in front of me, so the wait wasn't long.  We were right next to the customer service desk and as Judy joined us, she pointed out Jim Urrey, the cruise director, who she rode up the elevator with.  Jim has been our cruise director on each one of the four cruises we've been on.  He remembered us and said hello.  What really impressed me was he actually remembered Judy's name.  Actually he wasn't sure if it was Julie or Judy, but that was an honest mistake.

After taking care of check-in and getting our Key To The World cards, we went to find the kids on line, which was already moving.  As I was looking for them, I ran into Wendy (wendym) and her mum, Doreen, who came in all the way from Aberdeen, Scotland.  Wendy recognized me from my lime green Mickey head  name tag.  Boarding was much easier, since they do the bag check at the bottom of the escalator, before you get into the main terminal.  The only thing slowing the line down was everyone waiting to get their pictures taken.   We had our names announced and then we split up.  The kids took all the carry on stuff to their rooms, I went to Rockin' Bar D to make our Palo reservations and Judy went up to Vista Spa to make our cabana massage reservation.  The Palo reservations were so organized.  Like in a bakery, they give you a number and then you go to one of two tables when your number is called.  I hardly sat down before my number was called.  Lisa (minniemart) and her husband Dana were the number before me, so I got to meet them. I got the reservations I wanted, dinner at 6:30 on Tuesday. I picked this, because  I was expecting a dining rotation of LAPLAPL.  Instead we got APLAPLA, which we always thought was for families with younger children.  This turned out to be a critical difference as some of my plans were based on the assumption that I would get the other rotation.  Had I planned for an alternate rotation, I might have picked a different night.  I also made brunch reservations for Thursday, since I knew the DIS group was planning for brunch on Tuesday.

After making the reservations, I met everyone at Parrot Cay for the embarkation buffet.  The kids and I decided to walk around the ship for a while and stopped into Common Grounds to check it out for Elana.  Some crazy kid with a kerchief on her head shouted from across the room and asked if I was the guy who was supposed  to run interference for her mom on the way to Palos reservations. It was Chelsea (epcotgrl1), Denise's (eye R.N.) daughter.  She assured me that her mom was able to get the brunch reservation we wanted. From there we went back to the room and started to settle in while waiting for our luggage and the lifeboat drill. Our luggage arrived by 3:30, but we were missing one garment bag, which Judy found later by checking at guest services.  Our meeting place was in Animator's Palette, which was the first time we were inside and not on deck 4.  I was so hoping for a good picture, where everyone is clumped together on deck, but this was the best I could do.  The reflectors on the life jackets really do a number on the flash. 

Once the drill was over, it was time to go up to the sailaway party.  The DIS group had arranged to all meet on deck 10 overlooking the Goofy pool.  I don't recall everyone I met the first day, but Ashley (ashleydoc) and his wife and son were there, as were Wendy and Doreen, Denise (eye R.N.) and husband Andy, thread starter Jeanne (jeanneg) and husband John and Shelley (sbennett) and husband Jay.  Anna (Annas), Lisa and Dana, the other Wendy (AOP157) and Amy (luv2boys) and husband Jesse.  It was great to finally put faces to all these names.  

We hung around until the ship was well on its way and the deck party had already died down.  We had to excuse ourselves, since we had to go get ready for dinner.  As we walked into Animator's Palete and headed toward our table, we saw Zoran, who was our server the last time we cruised.  He gave Judy a big hug and we asked if we was going be our server again.  The answer was no, but we got a better surprise, since it turned out our server was Zoran's wife, Andrea.  We sat down and met our assistant server, Sandor, and Alen, our head waiter came by to introduce himself during the meal.  We ended up at a table next to Amy and Jesse and their two sons, Nicholas and Jared, which turned out to be an added surprise.  (I later found out that Denise and Andy and family ended up at a table with Wendy and Doreen, which was also an unplanned coincidence.)

Judy and Seth had the Maple-glazed Salmon, I had the Pan-fried Veal Chop and the girls had the Cheese Cannelloni.  Between all of us, we all tried the various dessert choices, they were al so good.

After dinner, Judy went to retrieve our garment bag while Sara and I went to the Walt Disney Theater to grab some seats.  The show on the first night is the Welcome Aboard Variety Show and the two acts were Bruce Block, an illusionist, and comedian Dan Riley.  Jim Urrey did the introductions and verified what I figured would happen, that we would get to see the Pirates of the Caribbean!!.  Bruce Block was very good, although his introduction was the best.  A stage manager brings out a rabbit and places it on a stool in front of the mike.  The rabbit does the intro.  The way it spoke into the mike, you really believe it was the rabbit who was talking.  Dan Riley's act is hilarious. We've seen him twice before. He did a hilarious rendition the theme song from Gilligans Island to the tune of Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven.