oI tried to research the history of Liarsville, but came up dry. It's based on the premise that reporters and journalists never really made it into the goldfields, but instead would rly on inaccurate accounts from stampeders on their way to or from the goldfields. I imagine that this tent city is supposed to be a cleaned up version of what a tent city during the gold rush era might look like.
Once we arrived at Liarsville, I asked Andrew to change William's diaper and I marched immediately over to their "saloon" (which is in front of the bathrooms) and purchased an Amber Alaskan Beer. It even came in a real glass pint glass. Oh yes. This would make this soiree much better.
Proof. Craft beer = happier Mommy.
Other folks were jealous of my quick beer acquisition in inquired where I found such lovely libations... I might have missed just the very beginning of the show in the Hippodrome ("a theater or other performance venue")... and maybe that introduction would have made the show seem less weird?
Or maybe I'm just not a fan of Robert Service's poetry? Robert Service is known as the "Bard
(Poet) of the Yukon" and his first book was titled
Songs of a Sourdough (which is a term used for old-timing miners). He lived in Whitehorse and collected tales from miners in the area. His book was wildly popular, grossing nearly $2.5 Millions dollars in today's equivalent. You can find some of his pieces here to get you ready for your trip to Skagway:
http://www.robertwservice.com/modules/smartsection/category.php?categoryid=46
This article, from 1988, speaks a bit about a very similar tent city (if not the same one)- so they have been doing the same entertainment for decades now-
http://www.eduweb.com/schaller/Skagway.html
So we listened as the lovely cast of characters recited "
The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill"
I took a contract to bury the body of blasphemous Bill MacKie,
Whenever, wherever or whatsoever the manner of death he die —
Whether he die in the light o’ day or under the peak-faced moon;
In cabin or dance-hall, camp or dive, mucklucks or patent shoon;
Till at last I said: “It ain’t no use — he’s froze too hard to thaw;
He’s obstinate, and he won’t lie straight, so I guess I got to —saw.”
So I sawed off poor Bill’s arms and legs, and I laid him snug and straight
In the little coffin he picked hisself, with the dinky silver plate,
And I came nigh near to shedding a tear as I nailed him safely down;
Then I stowed him away in my Yukon sleigh, and I started back to town.
Right? I did mention to you that it was, indeed...weird. I wonder if they do the same readings during the "Disney experience" with characters.
I do have to admit that I really enjoyed the ambiance of Liarsville. It's pretty cute, really.
I love smelling the campfire smoke, while listening to their camp guitar player, while sipping on hot cider and munching on cookies.
After the performance- we were all given pans of pay dirt to try our hand at gold panning. I was surprised that everyone had a place... we didn't have to squeeze in anywhere.
Look at our little prospector! Oh my gosh. I can barely stand the cuteness. SO cute. It was even cute when he thought he needed to wash off his oatmeal cookie in the water. -_-
You can find more gold then what you have been given if you scoop up some of the dirt on the bottom of the water tables, because most people accidentally dump their dirt right into the water, so we found some extra pieces that way, which was pretty fun.
The "cast members" working in Liarsville were fun, but they definitely don't stay in character like Disney cast members. I spoke with the guitar player for awhile- asking him how he ended up in Alaska- and it turns out that they do casting calls in New York. Everyone was from New York. Isn't that interesting? They are 120 day contracts and housing assistance is available. They rehearse from April 15th to May 1st and the shows go from May 1st to September 27th (the day of the last cruise ship).
Before we loaded back onto the bus, I tried to capture some pictures of that famous "waterfall"l that I read about. The definition of waterfall must be pretty broad. LOL. But it's still awfully pretty, right?
Once we finally got back to the ship, it was about 5:15, and Oaken's Maypole activity was already underway. When I first read navigators at the beginning of the season, I had daydreams of William holding a little ribbon and us prancing around the maypole, but you know... it was a long day and that activity is probably best for slightly bigger kids anyways.
So we had very little time to get ready for dinner. When we arrived to our cabin, our awesome cabin steward was just finishing up his turndown service and reminded us not to miss the Freezing the Night Away party later that night.
William thought that they Disney provided Frozen snowflake necklaces were SUPER GREAT!
We were back in Animator's Palate for dinner and I was hopeful that dinner would be improved after my previous night's tears.
Per usual, I had ordered my meal the night before and I was feeling really confident about it. I ordered the Arendell Gravlax ( I had to ask Andrew what Gravlax was. It's cured salmon. Surprise! I could eat cured salmon every night on the wonder) and the wild boar. Oh- I was also THRILLED that there was liver pate with the bread service. I had been trying to eat liver weekly for quite awhile (SO healthy for you).
Trying to overcompensate the evening prior, they also asked if William wanted any purees. They also asked me what my favorite veggies were. We were pretty noncommittal, as William hadn't been eating much. However, we did mention that he had really been enjoying the smoked salmon and he loved berries.
It was always kind of fun seeing the official menu before the majority of the cruise got a chance to see it. My version also seemed to come with multiple and we are talking about multiple languages.
Isn't the Frozen menu beautiful? It was even shimmery!
(I wonder what kind of menus will be on the next Alaskan cruise we take, which probably won't be for QUITE sometime).
Once we found our table in Animator's- our waiter so kindly volunteered that he didn't really care for anything on the menu, especially not what I ordered.
"Uuuh... Thanks."
But I will still super stoked about dinner- and rightfully so. My boar was FANTASTIC! Dinner was delightful! At first, they brought William a HUGE plate of smoked salmon. The chef in the kitchen just couldn't believe that it was a baby eating smoked salmon, so he made it an adult plate. I should have taken a picture. It was hilarious. Equally hilarious was the ENTIRE plate of Brussels sprouts that they brought me in addition to the wonderful veggies already included with my dinner. I love Brussels sprouts and I suppose that this is they dining equivalent of bringing flowers after making a mistake? It was funny.
I was just glowing.
We were again reminded to go to the Freezing the Night Away party. (I wonder why so many reminders? It's pretty hard to miss, isn't it? Or maybe it's because of the strange time??)
So we headed up to try to get a decent spot for the "best deck celebration on this side of the fjord."
William again thought that the dancing and characters were
wonderful! It was just a joy to see him clapping and having a great time.
(Take a moment to look at the scenery behind the tunnel vision. That's Disney for you. Fun party... in the most amazing places).
At one point, William's nursery band (on his ankle) fell off to the deck below, so I had to run and grab it. We wanted him all prepared to drop off at the nursery right after the party, because we decided that he probably wouldn't sit through Finding Dory, especially in 3D. We also wanted to make a quick exit, because I figured there would be a HUGE line for seats for Finding Dory, because it had just come out days prior.
The nursery also kept sweetly beginning to see William again. I wondered if they were trained to make you feel like your child was the best, most fun, most awesome baby EVER, because they certainly made us feel great for having such a fantastic kid. We didn't want to deprive them from spending time with their favorite buddy. LOL.
So we left the party a bit early (before the snow...I know, I know), which was fine, because truth be told- Andrew really doesn't like Frozen (Eeeep! The horror of it! He especially dislikes Olaf... A LOT.)
Andrew went to drop William off at Flounder's Reef and I headed to preludes and got myself a Hendricks gin and tonic- this was adult time, after all.
What a lovely movie and what an enchanting memory to be able to say that I saw it on a
Disney cruise. I may or may not have DEFINITELY cried when Dory's mom says, "
We will never forget you, Dory. And we know you will never forget us."
Being a parent changes the way that you view life entirely...including how you interpret movies.
We had a bit of time after the movie, so we swung through Mickey's Mates. Andrew was surprised that they had changed their front display to all things Finding Dory, which was not there the night prior. But are YOU surprised? It is Disney, after all. They transform entire parks overnight. (Not Christmas one day... Christmas the next).
After our window shopping, we headed down to pick up William.
We approached the desk of Flounder's Reef and no one was there.
We poked our head through the door and all of the crew members were inside. They looked quite startled. Andrew described that they appeared to look like they all got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
And they said, "Oh. Uh...Um... William isn't quite asleep yet."
Mind you...it was nearly 10 PM.
But the sight we saw...
Oh my gosh. It filled my heart with so much Disney magic that I just didn't think I could keep it all in!
All of the nursery staff and William were playing with Donald Duck. (I can't even begin to describe the joy I feel even just as a I type this... it makes my eyes misty, even now).
Since there were no other children in the nursery, they let us come in and take a picture. (You will note that there are now "Frozen" decorations hanging from the ceiling. Disney even decorates the nursery differently every day. So special. So Disney.)
This is absolutely one of my favorite moments from the cruise, because where else are you going to get that type of experience. If people asked me if they should take a baby/toddler on a Disney cruise- I would show them this picture, because it's just... oh- everything I love rolled into one.
:: happy sigh ::