Disney Cruising with little ones

My husband and I love cruising even though we've only gone a handful of times.  We got engaged on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas nearly 8 years ago. Since then, I've convinced Derek to do Disney with me!  Before our girls were born, we cruised aboard the Disney Magic in the Mediterranean  and aboard the Disney Wonder in Alaska.  We love the larger staterooms, the rotating themed restaurants, and of course the wonderful Disney entertainment. For me personally as a huge Disney fan, I prefer the Disney ships mainly because I love the presence of the characters. Royal Caribbean's line is great.  We found the service to be completely comparable and had a really fun time.  I just happen to enjoy the experience more with a touch of Disney magic and Mickey Mouse.

I may do a more thorough comparison in a later post, but right now, I'd like to talk about our first cruise with our little girls who were 13 months and almost 4 at the time of our cruise. Disney, as always, is great at catering towards families.  The staterooms are larger than the industry standard with an area that has a pull out couch and a dividing curtain for those earlier bedtimes and naps.  They even provided us with a Diaper Genie right in the room which we were very happy to have.

Disney is fabulous at including amazing experiences for the whole family aboard the ship including a whole deck of activities just for children in the Oceaner's Lab and Oceaner's Club that is included in the cost of your cruise.  You can even check in toddlers and babies at the It's a Small World nursery for a nominal hourly fee. What is nice, is that the kids areas even have at least one time period a day in which one section is in open house mode.  Activities scheduled during that time are for the whole family. This meant I finally got to check out the kid's club myself- I had never looked into it on the cruises we did prior to having kids.

I think how successful cruising with small children is depends a whole lot on the personality of the child.  Our older daughter, Ella, tried the kids club twice and was done and wanted to stay with us the rest of the time. She gets very clingy around people she doesn't know.  We actually had an easier time managing the baby! Our challenge was that Ella kept wanting to return to the stateroom to watch television much to our frustration- we didn't come all that way just to stare at screens. However, I will say that she loved the free ice cream and the Mickey pool.   Unfortunately since diaper aged children are (understandably) only allowed in the little splash zone area, Derek and I could not both go into the pool with her at the same time. We did get to enjoy the kids club during family time since we were allowed to stay with her. Ella also seemed to enjoy the shows. It was fun watching her respond to the magic show.  She doesn't like sitting in the seats that fold up though- she's not heavy enough to keep them down and spent most of the shows squirming on one of our laps.

Originally, I thought we'd check the baby into the nursery during the shows- we were in the earlier dinner group so the girls wouldn't have to wait so late to eat.  We tried it once.  They will put your child down in a crib if you request it.  Unfortunately, when we picked her up, she had only just fallen asleep, and it was after 9 pm, and we got the impression that they didn't even try to put her down earlier. They also called us at least twice while we were watching the show, once to clarify something about the information we had left with them and again when she was crying because she fell out of a chair. This was frustrating enough that for the rest of our trip, I just wore her in the baby carrier during the nighttime entertainment. It worked- she's a pretty chill little one, although she still didn't fall asleep until we returned to the room. We didn't end up with any adult time on this trip which was a bit of a bummer. We also didn't get to do much on Pirate Night or at the ports.  I'm glad this wasn't our first cruise!

One thing that disappointed me on this particular trip was that we were sat at a table for 4 by ourselves.  I had really hoped to be sat with another family- I know it can be a crap shoot as to whether or not you click with strangers, but I think Ella would have enjoyed the trip a lot more if she had a buddy to hang out with.  It also meant Ella was bouncing out of her seat constantly during dinner. Since we weren't sat with anyone, we didn't really make new friends on the ship this time like we have in the past.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Now, least you think I'm complaining too much, we did still have fun on this trip.  The Halloween on the High Seas was great. Ella got a huge kick out of trick or treating on the ship.  The Jack-Jack Diaper Dash where they race babies is just hilarious! We entered the baby, and she won her first heat.  Then for the final race, she kept trying to go parallel to the finish-line instead of crossing it until her sister pulled her across! I discovered on our last day that Ella wanted to do karaoke.  We were too late to sign up though.  Next time for sure- I was so excited that she wanted to go up.

We also splurged on the Enchanted Princess Tea.  It is quite the splurge, and I will only do it once for her and then again for Shira when she's old enough, but it was just darling!  I wasn't sure how into it Ella would be, but I really wanted to do it myself.  Turns out she loved it!  She let me style her hair the way I used to when I worked at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and she wore her Belle dance dress from her dance recital last summer. The girls each got a cupcake featuring their favorite princess of those who were represented.  Ella chose Cinderella. She was fully engaged with the princesses when they came to visit- more than I've ever seen her in the Disney parks. The girls also each got a Cinderella doll, an autograph book and pen, and a jewelry box with a charm bracelet and necklace.  I dressed up too- tiara and all.  It was probably my favorite part of the trip!

Another thing we did that was really fun was participate in a fish extender gift exchange- you can sign up with a group online that you exchange gifts with through a pocket hanger that you put outside your door.  It's called a fish extender because the little wall decoration that you hang it on is literally shaped like a fish.  Ella loved checking for surprises every time we returned to our room! Although I noticed that not everyone paid attention to the fact that our younger child was a baby- she often got the same gifts as her sister that were clearly too old for her. However, we did get a cute bib and some wipes and some baby snacks.

We will absolutely take the girls again despite the challenges.  They won't always be so little, and now that we've done it, I'll have my expectations a little more in check.  I think it will be more fun once the baby (who is now 18 months) is old enough to go to the kid's club with her sister so that they will at least have each other.  I think if we do cruise again before she is 3, I will plan out our nursery usage a bit better! Also, I think a cruise that goes to Castaway Cay, Disney's island in the Caribbean, would also have more successful port experiences for us. I'll let you know how the next one goes!  I think we'll be better prepared next time.

Mary Poppins Returns review

Everyone knows that Mary Poppins is practically perfect in every way, but did her new movie live up to her name? If you ask me, it got pretty darn close! Practically practically perfect, perhaps?

The original Mary Poppins from 1964 has a special place in my heart. I absolutely adore Julie Andrews and have since childhood.  I love the elegance of the Edwardian era.  I love stories of children going on magical adventures.  I love musicals and can sing nearly the entire score.  I saw the Broadway show in NYC, and I've appeared as the cook, Mrs. Brill, in a local stage production of it.

Twice, I have attended Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom in my own homemade Jolly Holiday dress.

 I even went to the D23 Expo and met Karen Dotrice who played Jane Banks.

I was very curious but optimistic when a sequel was announced. I read all the books a long time ago and knew there were more stories to tell. When the first teaser trailer premiered,  I was enchanted.

I think one of my favorite parts of Mary Poppins Returns is just how well they matched the style of the Walt Disney films of the 1960s.  From the joyful songs that felt as if they were carved from the same wood as the originals to the spirit of unadulterated, unapologetic childlike wonder echoed in the script to the sketchbook style of drawings used in the animated sequences, you could easily imagine that you had traveled back in time. It's cliche to say it, but they just don't make them like that much anymore.

I saw a lot of trepidation among the online Disney communities about the idea of someone other that our beloved Julie Andrews playing Mary, but oddly enough, I wasn't terribly worried about that.  I had already seen the role in the hands of other capable actresses both in the Broadway production and in the one I'd done myself. Sure enough, Emily Blunt was marvelous. She definitely chose a spin on the character that was closer to the books, a bit more curt, a bit ruder. Her voice has a lower overall tone than Julie's. But I completely bought into her as the magical nanny. I had been hoping she'd get an Oscar nod as Julie did before her, but no such luck- oh well.

Lin-Manuel Miranda as Jack the lamp lighter has received mixed reviews, but I thought he was great too. Hearing him in a fake cockney accent was amusing. Dick van Dyke is infamous for his. What I loved, though, was his genuine enthusiasm.  You could tell he was so excited to be there. What a dream come true that must have been!  I also loved how his character was tied to Bert- clever to have him have been a former apprentice. I know some people complained that he was given one of his signature rap pieces in the middle of a dance hall style number in the animated sequence, but it was actually a patter song- perfectly appropriate for the era.  In fact, Bert did a similar one in the middle of "Jolly Holiday."

Storywise, the script hits a lot of the same beats as the original.  You can easily link each song to a Sherman Brothers counterpart. But it's not the exact same story.  It's a bit darker, a bit more serious. We meet up with the Banks children about 25 years later.  Michael is a recently widowed father of 3, and Jane is a single woman with her own flat who, like her mother before her, is an activist. We are now in the 1930s, and Michael is in danger of losing his home, the same home he grew up in.  He has also lost much of his childhood joy. It always makes me so sad when children grow up to be adults who no longer believe in the magic they once experienced when they were young.

While Jane and Michael were happy-go-lucky children who craved love and affection from their parents, Georgie, John, and Annabel have been forced to grow up too soon due to circumstance.  They act like tiny adults and tell Mary Poppins that they don't need a nanny because they've grown up a lot in the past year.  "Well, we'll have to do something about that," replies Mary. In this film, Mary's job becomes reminding the children (and the former children) how to be children.

Now, least you think I'm fawning a little too much, Mary Poppins Returns isn't without it's flaws. My biggest issue is the unnecessary villain,  a greedy banker who tries to take the Banks' home from them with no good motivation to do so.  He's truly just a stereotypical mustache twirling bad guy, and the story could have been done almost exactly the same without his brand of cruelty.  Similarly, a wild chase scene in the animated sequence seemed to only serve the purpose of getting the children back home after their adventure.

Of course, I can't go on without discussing the music.  I found the songs to be a lot of fun, but certainly not on the same level as the originals.  However, they are growing on me more and more with each listen.  It's hard to compare, though, when I have been singing the originals for such a long time.  I do think overall that the new material written for the Broadway show was better than what we are offered here, but I'm sure in time, I'll be singing these too.  My favorite is probably "Trip a Little Light Fantastic" which is an answer to 1964's "Step in Time" with the lamplighters or "learies" leading the way instead of the sweeps. "A Cover is Not the Book" is lively and a bit naughty, although the lyrics flew by so quickly, I couldn't quite catch what they were saying! It was strange to see Mary perform a number like this though- a bit like seeing her play Nancy in "Oom Pah Pah" from Oliver. "Can You Imagine That?" from the children's first adventure made me smile.  It reminded me somewhat of "The Age of Not Believing" from Bedknobs and Broomsticks, not in the tone which is a lot more playful, but in that the children thought they were too old for such nonsense.

I recommend seeing the original again before seeing this new one.  It is absolutely filled with loving nods to it's predecessor.  There are bars from the famous songs woven into the score at key moments. There are references in the props- both Mary's snowglobe and the kite that Mr. Bank repairs make appearances.  If you look closely, there are photographs of George and Winifred Banks on the mantel. And best of all, there are cameos. Keep an eye out for Karen Dotice who asks Jane for directions and then replies with "Thanks, sincerely!" Of course, the very best cameo is from Dick van Dyke himself, as the son of the character he made a cameo as in the original! They even credit him at the end the same way as before, using the scrambled letters. He still has it, and how lucky and grateful we are that we still have him with us! Julie herself declined to appear as she wanted this to be Emily's show without distraction which I understand, but it would have been a thrill to see her.  In her place, though, we have another Disney legend we are honored to still have with us, Angela Lansbury- featured in the finale as the balloon lady.  She even gets to sing!  If you don't leave this movie feeling lighter than air yourself after that, your heart must be stone.

So, as you can tell, this long time Mary Poppins fans was won over.  I've already bought the soundtrack, and I'm quite likely to take this movie home once it's available.  While it may not be perfect, it's a worthy follow up of a beloved icon.