After nearly 3 days on board the Disney Wonder, we were all eager and excited to arrive at our first port in Puerto Vallarta. The day before that, Disney prepared us for Mexico with a Grand Fiesta Mexican Deck Party, and to our delight, Brianne and Bridgette were amongst a handful of children that were randomly picked to dance on stage with Mickey, Minnie, and their friends!
Having done all my research months in advance, I had already signed up for port excursions on the Disney website ahead of time. It’s best to arrange everything online beforehand, as the process to make changes at Guest Services once on board is quite slow and manual.
I signed Alan up for scuba diving in Puerto Vallarta, so he was on his own that morning. For the rest of us, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast on the ship before it was time for our port adventure, which was a day spent at the exclusive, private beach of Las Caletas Hideaway.
We left the Disney Wonder to board a large catamaran for Las Caletas Hideaway. It was almost an hour of boat ride, and we didn’t get the most comfortable seats, so my dad ended up getting really sea sick. 🙁 Upon arrival, it was lunch time and we had a nice table right by the beach, where we enjoyed a lovely (but sweaty) Mexican lunch. My dad, being both sea sick and terrified of any kind of food besides authentic Chinese and classic American, decided that he would just spend the day hungry, dizzy, and sleepy on one of the adirondack chairs on the beach.
One of the reasons I signed us up for Las Caletas Hideaway was because I read about their Kids’ Adventure Zone, where youngsters like B & B would be able to experience cool adventures like zip lining. After lunch, my sister treated the two moms to a nice spa treatment at the Hilltop Spa Center while my father in law joined my dad for an afternoon nap by the water.
As for me, I joined my sister, Brianne, and Bridgette on a short hike to see the monkeys and en route, coincidentally ran into Alan! As it turned out, his scuba diving excursion was at Las Caletas Hideaway as well and they finished early in the afternoon. When we caught sight of the monkeys, both my sister and Brianne were brave to let the monkey sit on their arms. Bridgette and I needed a little bit of coaxing but finally succumbed to it. 🙂
As for the python….we all shook our heads and watched nervously as Alan showed us his bravery.
We got to enjoy the sand and water a little bit before it was time for the girls to hit the Kids’ Adventure Zone. (Tip: It is important to sign the kids up for this while on the catamaran. Their staff members will circulate to remind you, but they don’t do a thorough job making sure everyone is well informed.)
The Kids’ Adventure Zone had several parts to it. First, the kids got geared up individually. Then, they got their face painted (the most enticing part for the girls!) and sat down for a brief lecture on safety. Soon after, they were led to a caged area where they were taught how to “call out” the dozens of monkeys hiding inside a cave. Brianne and Bridgette opted to skip this part and remained outside the cage to watch. I don’t blame them. I was scared too when I watched those monkeys scramble out from the cave all at once!
To get to the zip line platform, one would need to do a bit of hiking. Knowing how this might slow things down with the kids, the tour operators prepared donkeys to take the children uphill! It was a fun ride for them, while the parents huffed and puffed alongside…. 🙂
After we successfully got the kids uphill, we (the parents) were redirected to a waiting area while the tour operators took the eager children through a few suspension bridges that eventually landed them on the platform where they would do the zip line.
We were quite surprised at how much the girls enjoyed this adventure. They are becoming more and more fearless, which is both exciting and terrifying for me. Their enthusiasm to try new things is fantastic, especially for someone like me, who loves to travel and explore. I should probably give some credit to Dora and Diego too, for encouraging and spreading their love for adventures to the girls for the past few years. 🙂
The boat ride back to Puerto Vallarta was much more pleasant, as we were one of the firsts to board and grabbed the best seats “in the house“.
Oh, and we had the pleasure of getting up close and personal to this little guy while walking back to the Disney ship….
