Trivia, Drinks and Lobster, our 8 night cruise on the Fantasy! Completed 2/9!!

Kari0180

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Hello and welcome to my trip report! I've been meaning to start this for awhile, but life got busy. So I'm taking advantage of a good old Minnesota snow storm to get started!

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I'm Kari, a long time lurker, very infrequent commenter. By day, I work client services in the veterinary field, by night, I'm planning my next Disney trip!
DH is Bill, by day he works in video production, by night he's editing all of the videos we shot for this trip and posting them to YouTube!
We have 3 "children", all with 4 legs and covered with fur. Holly is our oldest, a 12 year old long-hair Dachshund, then we have Hef, he's a 12 year old Maine Coon mix (I was a huge fan of Girls Next Door back in the day, hence the names, yes, I have a cat named after Hugh Hefner). Our baby is Archie, he's a 10 year old Dachshund/Beagle mix who loves to give hugs!
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Archie and Holly in their favorite spot on top of our couch

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Hef, looking very angelic

Our last cruise was in April of 2018 on the Magic, it was that cruise that completed our Grand Slam, it was also our first cruise as Gold. We booked a placeholder, but we weren't sure what to do with it. We traveled to Disney World in February for our 10 year anniversary and then Disney Depression set in. Within a week of returning, we were on DCL's website and found our cruise. It was appealing for several reasons, we haven't been on the Fantasy since 2016, with the exception of Castaway, all of the ports were brand new to us, and most importantly, it was 8 nights, our longest cruise yet!

Our Itinerary
Day 1: Embarkation Day
Day 2: Day at Sea
Day 3: Day at Sea
Day 4: St. Kitts
Day 5: Antigua
Day 6: San Juan
Day 7: Day at Sea
Day 8: Castaway Cay
Day 9: Debarkation Day

We flew in the day before, went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and because for some reason, it was almost $1000 more to fly home Sunday over Monday, we got another day in Disney on the back end and got to explore Galaxy's Edge!

I hope you'll join me as I relive the best cruise ever!!
 
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Day 1-Let's get out of here!

The evening before we left, we dropped Archie off at my mom's house and took Holly and Hef over to my in-laws. We were also spending the night at my in-laws because they were taking us to the airport in the morning and we had to get up insanely early! We had dinner with the in-laws and Holly was already starting to experience some separation anxiety. 455738
In case you haven't figured it out yet, our pets are VERY spoiled! It was an early night and we went to sleep. Our alarm woke us up at 3:15, we showered, got dressed and headed out to the airport. The in-laws live pretty close to airport and we were at the main terminal of MSP at 4:30. Quick side story, the main terminal had been undergoing construction, they had one security checkpoint for pre-check and one for everyone else. It was all over the news and even Delta had emailed us that all flights that departed before 12:00 should show up 3 hours prior to arrival!! A couple of days before we left, the airport announced that both checkpoints were open, but were still recommending arriving earlier than usual. We checked in, dropped our bags off, got through security in 20 minutes...looks like we didn't need to arrive so early after all. Picked up some breakfast sandwiches and I got a coffee at Caribou and waited for our flight to arrive. Got on the plane without issue, and I had the best window seat ever!!!

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We had an uneventful flight and even landed early in Orlando! Got off the plane, headed to Magical Express and were shortly headed to our hotel!

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First stops were at Animal Kingdom Lodge and Kidani Village and then it was our turn, we were staying at All Star Sports Resort.
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Check in was pretty uneventful, we were lucky and our room was ready. We stayed in a preferred room, we were on the 2nd floor of building 1 in the Touchdown section. It was pretty close to everything. But apparently, I didn't take any photos of our room. It was a standard value resort room, Sports hasn't undergone the refurb yet, so we had the basic 2 double beds, nothing fancy, but did it's job for one night!

We dropped our stuff off and headed for the bus stops, of course we were lucky enough to have just missed the bus, so we waited and waited some more and finally caught our bus to Disney Springs. Once we got there, we headed to a few of the shops and then to our lunch at House of Blues.
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We had reservations and were seated a few minutes after at our tiny table for 2. We both ordered Cokes to drink and started with the BBQ Brisket Nachos.
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These were really good, a couple of fatty pieces of brisket in there, but overall a really good flavor! For our mains, DH had the Jambalaya and I had the Juicy Lucy.

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DH really enjoyed his jambalaya, it had a good flavor, he likes spice and sadly most places around here are "Minnesota Spicy" which according to him, means they have no heat! My Juicy Lucy was a really good burger, but it was not a Juicy Lucy. If you've never heard of them, a true Juicy Lucy is 2 patties with cheese stuffed in the middle, when you bite into one, the cheese flows out like a volcano. They were created in Minneapolis with 2 bars arguing over who invented it first. They are my favorite burger and I love finding places that have them on the menu, but none of them compare to the original (if you ever come to Minneapolis, in my opinion, Matt's Bar has the better burger, but 5-8 club has amazing pickle chips and onion rings, so we have a tendency to go there more often)! We passed on dessert, paid our bill (about $60 after tip) and headed to the busses. We had a very important party to head to!

Up next: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
 
Day 1, part 2-Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Warning, there won't be a lot of pictures in this report, I guess I was just too excited to stop and take pictures!

We left Disney Springs, hopped on a bus to the Polynesian and Grand Floridian, got off at the Polynesian, went upstairs and through security and got on the monorail. A few minutes later, we were tapping our Mickey's to the Mickey and walking into the Magic Kingdom!

We made our way through the special entrance, got our fun Trick or Treat bags and headed for our first fast pass, Big Thunder Mountain! We experienced the wildest ride in the wilderness and then noticed Splash Mountain only had a 25 minute wait. It was a little longer than 25 minutes, almost 40, but got into our log (we were supposed to ride in the 3rd row, but switched to the 1st row, when a couple of first-timers got scared), you can only imagine what happened next....we got soaked, hair, clothes, everything. Once we got off the ride, it was time to head to our next Fastpass, Peter Pan's Flight.

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A post Splash Mountain selfie on Peter Pan. After Peter Pan, we were done with Fast Passes, we headed into Mickey's Philharmagic (I love watching it, but do wish they would do a refurb, add some of the newer movies into the mix). We then tried to ride Carousel of Progress, but it was already closed for the night :sad1:. But we were right next door to my favorite attraction...The People Mover!! After we got off, it was about 6:00 and we noticed the candy trails were open, we picked up some candy, rode some rides and then decided it was time to grab some food, a lobster roll sounded good, so off to Columbia Harbor House we went...to find out it was closed.

At this point, it was starting to rain (we were there during Tropical Storm Nestor), it was at this point, we realized our ponchos were staying dry in our hotel room. We decided to go on Haunted Mansion and while in line, they were covering up all the effects in the graveyard. After we wrapped up Haunted Mansion, it was time to search for food, so off to Peco's Bill's we went. Peco's Bill's was insane, lines were long, all the tables were taken by people trying to stay dry from the rain. We got our food and finally managed to score a table. Our food was so terrible, we didn't even bother with pictures, DH had the bacon cheeseburger with tortilla chips that were super soggy. I got the taco trio, the carnitas were good, but the chicken tasted like a sponge and the ground beef were swimming in oil, I ate the carnitas and the other 2 went in the trash. The parade was delayed a little due to the rain, but was going on while we were eating.

It was then a ride on Pirates and then off to the hub to hopefully watch some fireworks. At this point, it was starting to rain a little harder, the announcements started to come that the fireworks might be delayed or cancelled. Thankfully, the show started and we were able to enjoy the new Halloween Fireworks


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During the fireworks, it started to pour and after the show, it truly was a mass exodus out of the park, everyone was leaving. We made our way through the masses and headed over to Tomorrowland, first stop was the trick or treat trail at the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. This was enjoyable, they had mini shows going on, it was Laugh Floor light, but still funny! Then it was next door to Buzz Lightyear, where DH cheated and kept turning the vehicle so I couldn't hit any of the targets, my score was very sad. As we're exiting the ride, we notice WAY too many people hiding out in the dump shop, we know what that means...rain, and not just any rain...it was a downpour! We ran over to the People Mover again, the water was over my ankles, it was crazy!! At this point, they announced they were cancelling the 11:00 parade, so we rode the People Mover twice and they didn't make us get off (many other people were doing this this too).



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A very wet selfie on the People Mover. After our second trip, it was still pouring and now 11:30, there was still one thing we hadn't accomplished yet and that was a ride on Space Mountain in the absolute dark. We ran over there, waited in line for about 10 minutes and then it was our turn to ride. Let me say, it is a whole different experience when it is truly pitch black. I did have one problem though, at some point, I hit the lap bar really hard on my left side. This had me in pain for like 5 days, I was still able to function, but needed Ibuprofen to help.

After we finished up on Space Mountain, it was midnight and time to head out, I finally caved and purchased ponchos in the dump shop. I knew I would never be able to get all the way to the bus stop without a poncho, I was already soaked! We looked in the shops on Main Street for a little bit, I almost bought the Mickey Balloon Dooney & Bourke, but decided to wait on it. We took one last photo on Main Street.

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We headed toward the bus, thankfully it was almost 1:00 at this point and there was a bus waiting. We got a seat and headed back to Sports. Once we got back, we still had to unpack some stuff for the next morning, the letter was in our room, letting us know Disney transportation would pick up our bags between 8-8:30 and that we needed to meet in the lobby at 10:45. With that knowledge, it was off to bed!

A couple of thoughts on MNSSHP:
-This was our third party, because this was our only day at MK, we used the time for rides and not for character meets, we were able to ride almost everything we wanted. We missed Mine Train because of the rain and the 11:00 parade was cancelled, but we've done those before, I was just happy we were able to see the new fireworks show.

-I was a little nervous headed to the party because I had been reading other reports about the party being over crowded and ride lines being long...we didn't have this problem at all, lines were short, we were able to get on all the rides with less than 30 minute waits. We got a TON of candy, like we're still eating candy from the party. I don't know if Nestor scared people off, but we had a lot of fun, even with all the rain.

-I really wish they had more options for actual food during the party. Peco's Bill's was terrible and we always wind up at Cosmic Ray's. I wish there were other quick service places open during the party, I didn't want to waste any time eating at a table service.

Next Up: Embarkation Day!
 
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You guys seem like a fun couple . Enjoying your trip report . It’s been 12 years since I have been at the Halloween party.

Can’t wait for the cruise part now.
 
I'm in! In fact, I think I might have been on your cruise, did you sail on October 18th? I'm looking forward to your report!
 
You guys seem like a fun couple . Enjoying your trip report . It’s been 12 years since I have been at the Halloween party.

Can’t wait for the cruise part now.

:welcome:Thank you for reading! I'm really excited to write about this cruise, hope you enjoy!
 


I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We had a lot of snow/freezing rain, so we just relaxed at home, got some cleaning done and did a lot of streaming!

Embarkation Day, Part one

Where I last left you, we had just gone to bed, ready to wake up in the morning and head out to Port Canaveral. Our alarms went off around 7, we woke up, showered, and got our bags ready for bell services to pick up around 8. Nestor was rearing his ugly head this morning, it was pouring, I was so happy we weren't headed to the parks, it would have been miserable.

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This picture doesn't do it justice, but there was water everywhere! We got a phone call from bell services that they were running behind due to the rain and would be to our room closer to 9-9:30. So we put our ponchos on and headed to the food court for breakfast. DH got the general breakfast platter they serve everywhere, eggs, meat, pancakes, he said it was good. I got the chocolate chip pancakes with bacon and they were amazing! I forgot to take pictures (I know, I know, food pics are coming). However, my side was really painful after my Space Mountain incident and eating made things worse. Bill wanted to walk around the resort to do a resort tour, but I was feeling too painful, so I went back to the room, took some Ibuprofen and laid down and watched the DCL episode of Outdaughtered. Did anyone see that episode? It was super cute, but I loved how it started "a few weeks" before they left and they were able to get BBB reservations, Palo Brunch and Cabanas. Bell Services showed up to pick up our bags and before we knew it, it was time to meet our DCL rep in the lobby!

I know there are many different ways to get to and from port, but when we cruise out of Port Canaveral, we always use the DCL transportation, since there are only two of us, it's about the same cost, if not cheaper than private transportation. I also don't mind getting to the port later now that we sign up for activities online. I love having short lines getting through security, walking in to a pretty empty terminal and open boarding is great! We met our rep in the lobby, the bus was supposed to show up at 11:00, but there were some delays with the weather, it was only a few minutes, we stopped at couple other resorts (Caribbean Beach and Yacht Club) and we were finally on our way.

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With the weather, the ride was a little slower than usual and they didn't show the usual movie, so it was a bit quieter than we were used to. It sounds like taking DCL transportation was a really good thing on this day, we had been following posts on Facebook and things were not too good around port. The Fantasy docked a little late due to the weather, people were posting everything from cars going off the road, traffic being at an absolute standstill to my favorite, apparently a car was trying to merge into the correct lane, but they were being a little aggressive about it. A male jumped out of the car on the highway and blocked the cars from moving until his vehicle could get in. He was screaming and swearing, but the kicker is, they were wearing matching family tees, so his last name was on his shirt. I never saw the photo, but I heard someone took a photo of him and warned others to stay away. With all this drama in front of us, we rolled into port around 1:00 to a ghost town. And then we saw our first glances of our home for the next 8 nights

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The next 20-30 minutes were a blur, we went through security, checked in, got our room keys, lanyards, navigators (yes, they handed us paper ones) and got our dining rotation (we were AERAERAE) and then, we were headed through these

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Up next: We're on the ship!!
 
Embarkation Day, Part 2

We walked through the Mickey Ears had our cards scanned for the first time and then we were announced on the ship (I always go by our last name, I'm not creative enough to come up with something fun)! Since lines were non-existent, we made a quick stop at Guest Services to apply gift cards to our account and then we headed to Animator's for some lunch...only to be told all the tables were full and we would have to go to Cabanas. Don't get me wrong, I like Cabanas, but I really dislike Cabanas on embarkation day, it's always a madhouse! It was now after 1:30, so we decided to drop off our bags at our room, we quickly found our room, we were 8500, we were at the absolute front of the ship, overlooking Vibe. This was our first experience booking GTY, we've stayed in every room category (well, not concierge) and have been both aft and forward (but never mid). We booked Oceanview 9D GTY and had a slight upgrade to 9C and we were in a handicap accessible room. I have no photos, but there is video that I will post at the end if interested. We really enjoyed our room, liked the extra space, I was worried about the shower dripping all over the floor, but we had no issues, just a lot of room!

Stuff dropped off, we made our way to the other end of the ship and hit up Cabanas. The buffet was still really busy at 2:00, but got our food and found a table and started eating. I started off with peel and eat shrimp with the rose sauce

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My second plate had margarita pizza, chicken nuggets and fries, salmon, pork chow mein, fried rice and chicken with pico on top. Everything was very yummy, I have a love affair with DCL's chicken tenders, these would not be my last, I could live off those things with honey mustard and ranch dressing (Hi, my name is Kari and I'm addicted to ranch, seriously, people have given it to me as Christmas gifts before). We then did a brief tour of Sweet on You since it was our first time seeing it, our last time on the Fantasy was in 2016.

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Seriously? Aren't these guys the cutest? We walked around the ship a little more and then it was time for the dreaded muster drill. We were in muster station H, we were outside, the rain had stopped, but it was now hot and humid and miserable. Thankfully, it wasn't too long and then we were headed up to the sail away party. We were actually one of the first up there and had a great spot right in front of the stage. This is where we finally got our first drink (we purchased the new souvenir glass) and watched the show.

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This is where it was confirmed that Matt was going to be our Club Host for the week, we had him on our last cruise on the Magic and loved him, so I was super excited that he was on the ship again. There was a lot of speculation over who our cruise director, captain and club host where, it wasn't printed anywhere and we found out that there was a large transition of cast members on our cruise and would be an even larger one on debarkation day.

After the party, we went back to our room for a little bit, got some unpacking done and since we were second dining, headed to the Walt Disney Theater (or as DH called it all week, Walt Disney Studios) and watched the Welcome Show. This is where it was confirmed that Leslie was our Cruise Director and Thord Haugen was our Captain (I personally have never cared about who our Captain and Cruise Director are, we only see them prior to the shows, I care more about the Club Host, since we spend most of our time in the bars). We bought a refill for our popcorn bucket (hint, they will refill any popcorn bucket for the refill price, we've been using the same bucket since 2014) and grabbed our drinks of the day (Paradise Punch), very yummy and settled in for the show. I know a lot of people skip it or think it's dumb, but I think the welcome show is really cute, it always gets me excited for what's ahead for the week! With the show over, it was time to head to my favorite place on the ship, to participate in my favorite activity...

Up Next: Our first Trivia and dinner
 
Following along! So excited to read your TR, as DH and I just booked a couples-only last-minute cruise on the Fantasy (first time DCL). We embark on January 4 for the Western Caribbean and can't wait. Your itinerary looks amazing!

I have read so much about the chicken tenders on the pool deck. Are they the same at Cabanas? Is the Sweet on You shop the same as Vanellope's? Please tell us more about the adult-only venues, drinks of the day, and any specialty cocktails you tried!

Thanks!
 
Following along! So excited to read your TR, as DH and I just booked a couples-only last-minute cruise on the Fantasy (first time DCL). We embark on January 4 for the Western Caribbean and can't wait. Your itinerary looks amazing!

I have read so much about the chicken tenders on the pool deck. Are they the same at Cabanas? Is the Sweet on You shop the same as Vanellope's? Please tell us more about the adult-only venues, drinks of the day, and any specialty cocktails you tried!

Thanks!

:welcome:Thanks for joining, we will actually be embarking the Fantasy the day you disembark (spoiler alert)! The chicken tenders are the same at the pool deck and Cabanas (and from room service), they are so good!! Sweet on You is the same as Vanellope's just with a different overlay, same desserts, ice cream and candy. There's more to come from the adult-only venues and cocktails, it's how we spent most of our trip!!
 
Embarkation Day, Part 3

We made our way to the Tube for our first trivia event: Know it all Music Trivia. I may have thought I knew everything about music, but Matt really stumped me on some, sadly, we only got a 24 out of 40, the luggage tags would not be mine :sad1:. Even with the loss, I love hanging out in the Tube.

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With trivia ended, it was finally time for dinner!! Our first restaurant was Animator's Palate, this was our first time having Animator's as our first restaurant, with our previous rotations, it's always been last, so we were excited to eat here first. Tonight was the Crush show and while it's cute, this night, it was a little off. Previous cruises have had Crush really interacting with the tables and there wasn't a whole lot going on. It was mostly "guess the image the fish are putting together", Crush did stop by our table, but it was kind of lackluster. Maybe it was because we were seated at a table for 8, but only had one other couple as our tablemates. DH and I are a rarity, we love having tablemates, we love hearing about others days on the cruise and making new friends, so we were a little let down when there was only one other couple. They were great though and we spent a lot of time with them at shows and trivia.

For dinner, we were pretty boring and had the exact same thing for every course, we started with the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes. I love these, they were a little doughy, but I didn't care, they're so good!

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Yummy, yummy in my tummy! Next course, we both had the Baked Potato Cheddar and Bacon soup. Neither DH or I are big fans of potato soup, but this is always a favorite, I don't know if it's the cheese or the bacon, but I love it!

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Main course was the Teriyaki Ginger dusted Tenderloin with Wasabi Potatoes and bok choy.

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DH said his steak was good, mine had good flavor, but was really tough. I ordered it medium rare, but it was more rare and a little more chewy than I would have wanted, so I didn't finish it. This sadly would become a theme with a lot of my steaks throughout the cruise (and with conversations with others, a lot of other people had issues with the steaks). I like to consider myself pretty easy going, so I didn't say anything, it takes a lot for me to speak up about things. Maybe I should've said something, but I was able to eat most of it and it still tasted good.

Dessert was the Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake, this is one of DH's favorite desserts and while I'm not the biggest fan of cheesecake, I've always enjoyed this one!

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Our servers for this cruise were Lenin and Edith, they were both great, attentive and friendly. Our food arrived fast and we were always able to make it to the Tube in time for the evening entertainment. With dinner over, that's exactly where we headed, first up was the game Intuition, it was a card game that involved a few participants from the audience. I don't want to ruin the game, but it was fun to watch. After Intuition, we watched The Physical Comedy of Max Winfrey, he was hilarious! After his show, it was time for bed (well, actually we finished unpacking first) and then went to bed around 1:00. We had an early morning ahead of us!

Up Next: Meeting new friends!
 
Thanks for posting the video! I enjoyed watching it, even though I already knew everything that was going to happen. You two are so cute! Too bad we will just miss you on the Fantasy in January!
 
Day 1, part 2-Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Warning, there won't be a lot of pictures in this report, I guess I was just too excited to stop and take pictures!

We left Disney Springs, hopped on a bus to the Polynesian and Grand Floridian, got off at the Polynesian, went upstairs and through security and got on the monorail. A few minutes later, we were tapping our Mickey's to the Mickey and walking into the Magic Kingdom!

We made our way through the special entrance, got our fun Trick or Treat bags and headed for our first fast pass, Big Thunder Mountain! We experienced the wildest ride in the wilderness and then noticed Splash Mountain only had a 25 minute wait. It was a little longer than 25 minutes, almost 40, but got into our log (we were supposed to ride in the 3rd row, but switched to the 1st row, when a couple of first-timers got scared), you can only imagine what happened next....we got soaked, hair, clothes, everything. Once we got off the ride, it was time to head to our next Fastpass, Peter Pan's Flight.

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A post Splash Mountain selfie on Peter Pan. After Peter Pan, we were done with Fast Passes, we headed into Mickey's Philharmagic (I love watching it, but do wish they would do a refurb, add some of the newer movies into the mix). We then tried to ride Carousel of Progress, but it was already closed for the night :sad1:. But we were right next door to my favorite attraction...The People Mover!! After we got off, it was about 6:00 and we noticed the candy trails were open, we picked up some candy, rode some rides and then decided it was time to grab some food, a lobster roll sounded good, so off to Columbia Harbor House we went...to find out it was closed.

At this point, it was starting to rain (we were there during Tropical Storm Nestor), it was at this point, we realized our ponchos were staying dry in our hotel room. We decided to go on Haunted Mansion and while in line, they were covering up all the effects in the graveyard. After we wrapped up Haunted Mansion, it was time to search for food, so off to Peco's Bill's we went. Peco's Bill's was insane, lines were long, all the tables were taken by people trying to stay dry from the rain. We got our food and finally managed to score a table. Our food was so terrible, we didn't even bother with pictures, DH had the bacon cheeseburger with tortilla chips that were super soggy. I got the taco trio, the carnitas were good, but the chicken tasted like a sponge and the ground beef were swimming in oil, I ate the carnitas and the other 2 went in the trash. The parade was delayed a little due to the rain, but was going on while we were eating.

It was then a ride on Pirates and then off to the hub to hopefully watch some fireworks. At this point, it was starting to rain a little harder, the announcements started to come that the fireworks might be delayed or cancelled. Thankfully, the show started and we were able to enjoy the new Halloween Fireworks


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During the fireworks, it started to pour and after the show, it truly was a mass exodus out of the park, everyone was leaving. We made our way through the masses and headed over to Tomorrowland, first stop was the trick or treat trail at the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. This was enjoyable, they had mini shows going on, it was Laugh Floor light, but still funny! Then it was next door to Buzz Lightyear, where DH cheated and kept turning the vehicle so I couldn't hit any of the targets, my score was very sad. As we're exiting the ride, we notice WAY too many people hiding out in the dump shop, we know what that means...rain, and not just any rain...it was a downpour! We ran over to the People Mover again, the water was over my ankles, it was crazy!! At this point, they announced they were cancelling the 11:00 parade, so we rode the People Mover twice and they didn't make us get off (many other people were doing this this too).



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A very wet selfie on the People Mover. After our second trip, it was still pouring and now 11:30, there was still one thing we hadn't accomplished yet and that was a ride on Space Mountain in the absolute dark. We ran over there, waited in line for about 10 minutes and then it was our turn to ride. Let me say, it is a whole different experience when it is truly pitch black. I did have one problem though, at some point, I hit the lap bar really hard on my left side. This had me in pain for like 5 days, I was still able to function, but needed Ibuprofen to help.

After we finished up on Space Mountain, it was midnight and time to head out, I finally caved and purchased ponchos in the dump shop. I knew I would never be able to get all the way to the bus stop without a poncho, I was already soaked! We looked in the shops on Main Street for a little bit, I almost bought the Mickey Balloon Dooney & Bourke, but decided to wait on it. We took one last photo on Main Street.

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We headed toward the bus, thankfully it was almost 1:00 at this point and there was a bus waiting. We got a seat and headed back to Sports. Once we got back, we still had to unpack some stuff for the next morning, the letter was in our room, letting us know Disney transportation would pick up our bags between 8-8:30 and that we needed to meet in the lobby at 10:45. With that knowledge, it was off to bed!

A couple of thoughts on MNSSHP:
-This was our third party, because this was our only day at MK, we used the time for rides and not for character meets, we were able to ride almost everything we wanted. We missed Mine Train because of the rain and the 11:00 parade was cancelled, but we've done those before, I was just happy we were able to see the new fireworks show.

-I was a little nervous headed to the party because I had been reading other reports about the party being over crowded and ride lines being long...we didn't have this problem at all, lines were short, we were able to get on all the rides with less than 30 minute waits. We got a TON of candy, like we're still eating candy from the party. I don't know if Nestor scared people off, but we had a lot of fun, even with all the rain.

-I really wish they had more options for actual food during the party. Peco's Bill's was terrible and we always wind up at Cosmic Ray's. I wish there were other quick service places open during the party, I didn't want to waste any time eating at a table service.

Next Up: Embarkation Day!

We thought we had filled up at the Club Lounge at Contemporary but actually got hungry during our MNSSHP on October 1st that we decided to eat at Pinocchio’s, I also thought Columbia Harbor House was open but I was out voted.....

Also we have our 1st cruise booked for next December aboard the Dream and we naturally have to spend a couple of weeks at Universal.....lol we just love it there!

Oh enjoying your vids also....:thumbsup2
 
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Sea Day One, Part One

Alarm went off at 8, into the shower I went, we had an important breakfast, no, not Palo (more on that later), but for the first time, we were experiencing the Disney Junior Breakfast! While we were getting ready, we were watching the Cruise Directors morning show and Leslie made a comment that kind of surprised me...she said that there were still openings at Palo and Remy for brunch. This was a unique itinerary for DCL and that attracted A LOT of Platinum cruisers, so much so when booking opened for Gold members, there were no brunch openings for any of us. Yes, with a cruise that had 3 sea days, Gold members were completely locked out of brunch (I also couldn't get us dinner on Pirate night either). We thought about trying to get a reservation on Embarkation Day, but the line was insane, I knew we would never get a spot. So hearing Leslie say there were still openings and to check at Palo really surprised me. We knew Palo didn't open until 10:00, so made a point to add that to our list to check out after breakfast.

We got an early start, so we stopped at the nursery for open house. The nursery is really cute and if we had a child under 3, I know they would have a great time! We then stopped next door at Oceaneer Club for their open house, I ran over to the Star Wars simulator to play (DH says I threw a child to the ground, that is not true, the station was open). I took a turn and then let DH play before we looked around some more. One day, I hope to get on the Panama Canal or Transatlantic cruises where they open the kids clubs to the adults at night, they are so much fun! Open Houses checked off (I forgot, we checked out Vibe and The Edge on Embarkation Day...oops), we headed toward our breakfast.

The character breakfast was in Animator's and it was really cute. They had Disney Junior cartoons playing on all the screens and the restaurant was brightly lit in fun colors. We were seated toward the back at a table by ourselves and were soon met by a character attendant, she asked that we don't get up for photos, that the characters would come to us and if we wanted to have autographs to put the items on the table (if a book, turned to the page where they wanted the character to sign). The server then came around with pastries, I grabbed a chocolate pillow and DH grabbed a crossaint. We then placed our orders, I had the Fancy Nancy's Selection which was a chocolate chip pancake, a Mickey waffle and was supposed to come with fresh fruit, but didn't get any fruit :oops:, but I ordered a side of bacon to go with it. DH had the DCL Express, it was eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage and a grilled tomato. Again, no photos of food, but we were here for the characters, not the food! We saw Vampirina, Doc McStuffins, Fancy Nancy and Mickey Mouse. They came by our table in pretty quick succession and had fun with all of them!

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We had a lot of fun at the breakfast, it's really more of a kid thing, but we had a good time, if you want to see more (including our food), here is the link to our video


We wrapped up our breakfast and were trying to kill some time until Palo opened, we went to the atrium and got our picture taken in front of the Pumpkin Tree

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We then ran up to Palo to inquire about brunch, this is where I had my first ever and hopefully only negative interaction with a cast member. I mentioned earlier that I was surprised when cruise director Leslie said there were openings, but the hostess was so rude. She basically gave me a verbal beat down that there weren't any openings, but I could be added to the wait list, but at this point, the list was so long it wasn't worth it. She then informed me that she was trying to check in people with "actual" reservations and that I was holding her up. I was stunned, embarrassed and almost in tears, I went up there just asking a question and was humiliated. Looking back now, I really wish I would've gone to Guest Services and complained, nobody deserves to be treated that way, but at the time, I wanted to move on with my day, so we headed to movie quotes trivia!

Movie Quotes Trivia was held in O'Gill's and it was packed! There were a lot of adults on this cruise and a lot of them went to trivia, if you weren't there early enough, you didn't get a seat! We almost won this round, but came in second, no key chain for me! After trivia, we played our first (and only) game of Bingo. We didn't win, but I was so close on the jackpot round, the last game is always a coverall and if you win in so many calls (I think 45??), you win the jackpot, if there is no winner, you still keep playing, but for a smaller prize. For the longest time, my card was winning and then with like 10 numbers to go, completely stalled, I was the first stander, but didn't win. I love playing Bingo, the staff is so much fun and even when you don't win (we've never won), it's entertaining and "B11" takes on a new meaning!

After Bingo, it was time for our Frozen meet and greet. This was back in Animator's and was completely transformed from the breakfast earlier in the morning. I am willing to admit I have drunk the Frozen Kool-Aid, love that movie, love Anna and Elsa and was very excited to meet them!

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Here I am discussing snow in Minnesota and that the climate is very similar to Arendelle!

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He tells me he loves Anna, but he can never pronounce her name correctly! With a busy morning over, it was time to get some lunch!

Up Next: Will we ever make it outside today?
 
We thought we had filled up at the Club Lounge at Contemporary but actually got hungry during our MNSSHP on October 1st that we decided to eat at Pinocchio’s, I also thought Columbia Harbor House was open but I was out voted.....

Also we have our 1st cruise booked for next December aboard the Dream and we naturally have to spend a couple of weeks at Universal.....lol we just love it there!

Oh enjoying your vids also....:thumbsup2

:welcome:We had a lot of fun on the Dream, only downfall is the short cruises, we did a B2B, but you'll have a blast! We have yet to go to Universal in Orlando, we went to Universal Hollywood last year and had a blast, but have yet to leave our Disney bubble when we travel to Orlando! I hope you continue to enjoy the report and the videos!
 
:welcome:We had a lot of fun on the Dream, only downfall is the short cruises, we did a B2B, but you'll have a blast! We have yet to go to Universal in Orlando, we went to Universal Hollywood last year and had a blast, but have yet to leave our Disney bubble when we travel to Orlando! I hope you continue to enjoy the report and the videos!

Thanks!!!

We are very excited we have finally booked our first Disney Cruise, we have done WDW and UO (We are Passholders at UO!) so many times but never a cruise yet, and looking forward to more of your report!
 
following along, agree with you, care more about the club host, Tisa & Jo are our favorites
never paid much attention to who the cruise director was, until we had one that we didn't care for

just read first sea day such a rude host at Palo, I would have either called or went to guest services, maybe if I had run into Leslie I would have mentioned the interaction, even if it was not the same day, no one deserves to be treated that way
 
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