PARK-CRUISE-PARK in Nov. 2012: Another Thanksgiving with Mickey! (7/7/14 UPDATE!!)

[kittylady1972]

Ok first and foremost the latest news...the marathon trip is looking VERY likely now. Tonight I booked a room at.....ok I'll tell you later! However I will say there is a room booked for us and a room booked for my in-laws for 3 nights in January!

I still won't say it's 100% but I felt better having a deposit in place to lock in the rate. I will say we are using an Annual Passholder rate for this trip...so that at least lets you know that we have decided AGAINST Shades of Green. My main reason is their cancellation policy. They require a 30-day cancellation notice or you forfeit the entire deposit and for us that would mean $131. That's a bit too much to risk because anything can happen between now and January.

Ok up next...another trip update!

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok so we arrived in plenty of time and got our room assignments. We had some lunch (we had picked up some sandwiches before leaving home) while waiting in the train station. At 2:30pm we were called to board the train.

We each had our own room. The in-laws were in their own Superliner Bedroom and the kids had their own Superliner Bedroom which connected to ours with a sliding mirror/door. We had to wait a bit for our porter, who was new, to come unlock the door and open it for us. DH ended up helping her with that.

Here are the kids in their side of the rooms:

Not the best shot, but here you can see the pass-thru to the rooms:

My first surprise once we settled into our rooms was to give the kids their gift cards:

Next we headed to find a seat for the welcome reception. Since this was not our first rodeo so to speak, we knew there was a larger space in the lower level of the lounge that had two large seating areas where we could all fit. So we headed there and had some snacks...and a few free glasses of wine.

Then we decided to just relax in our room until dinner. We got the early seating for dinner of 5pm, so we didn't have too long to wait. Dinner was pretty good as usual and so was dessert. Afterwards we went back to our rooms. The in-laws joined us in our room and Frank made some Lapu Lapu drinks and we played a round of Farkle (a dice game) before retiring for the night.

I FINALLY got a chance to sleep on the bottom bunk of a train car...and it was HEAVEN especially since it was a bit wider than the top bunk. I think I slept the best I've ever slept on the train, but I did wake up a few times when the train really started doing some rocking.

Next thing you know it was the next morning. We arrived on-time and here is a shot of the train as we exited at Sanford:

While waiting in the station, I took a video clip asking everybody where they thought we were staying...still no clue. Our car was not one of the first ones off the train...and in fact we were probably close to the middle. It wasn't too bad. We were on the road before 10am.

The whole trip in there was a lot of guessing...where would we be headed? Yes they were surprised when we pulled up to the Wilderness Lodge! It was so cool to walk into the lobby and see this:

Our room was not ready of course, but we got the keys and then parked the vehicle. The decision was made to go ahead and have the bags unloaded for us and kept for us until checkin, to that's what we did. Then we headed to the boat dock to catch a boat over to Magic Kingdom. We were STARVING!

On the boat:

 

[DMGeurts]

How awesome that you have your next trip booked! I wish we could afford to go so often, but the airfare is a good chunk of the trip for us - and every time I have checked into taking the train, it's very, very expensive. Cheaper to fly actually. So, if you have any hints about that, I would love to hear them.

Loved all the pictures! You have a beautiful family, and it looks like they truly enjoyed their trip down.

HOw cool that you stayed at WL! Especially when it's decorated for Christamas - if I ever get my coveted Christmas trip, I would love to stay theree for a few days.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

D~

 

[kittylady1972]

How awesome that you have your next trip booked! I wish we could afford to go so often, but the airfare is a good chunk of the trip for us - and every time I have checked into taking the train, it's very, very expensive. Cheaper to fly actually. So, if you have any hints about that, I would love to hear them.

Loved all the pictures! You have a beautiful family, and it looks like they truly enjoyed their trip down.

HOw cool that you stayed at WL! Especially when it's decorated for Christamas - if I ever get my coveted Christmas trip, I would love to stay theree for a few days.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

D~

I can't believe it either right now. I'm still not sure I'll go through with it because financially we really SHOULD take a break and save some money.

As for hints...the train is quite expensive. We used some Amtrak Rewards points to book our last trip. Usually one way in sleepers is just as much, if not more, than booking airfare AND renting a car, and I just HAVE to have a vehicle with me there. It's just a security thing. We find it so much more efficient to drive to the parks too.

With this trip, I thought I mentioned it...but we are driving both ways. It is a 14 hour drive or so each way. The plan for NOW is to leave around noon on a Thursday, drive as far as we can, hopefully stopping in Georgia close to 10pm or so and getting a hotel. The next day we'll have a nice breakfast and drive the rest of the way, maybe a 4 hour drive. So we can hopefully be in a park close to noon on Friday, and then have all day Sat, Sun and Monday to do parks. I'm not making ANY ADRs this time...we'll do snacks and counter service to maximize our park time. Plus we will try to limit the park hopping since my in-laws will have to purchase tickets and they may try not to get hoppers.

Again that's the PLAN and we'll see how things go. Today I priced out hotels in Georgia and that shouldn't be too bad. It will cost about $65 for the night for that hotel and then we factor in gas, split with the in-laws most likely. We will most likely make the drive home in one trip. We've done it before, left around 7am and arrived close to 10pm doing very few stops.

So this is hopefully going to be our CHEAPEST trip yet if all goes well! And after Christmas, that's a good thing!

 

[kittylady1972]

So just another quick update from here...I'll have to do another trip report post later this week.

In home news, it looks like our possible move overseas will NOT be happening. The more my husband reviewed the job and talked to the people there, the more it seemed like it may not be a good decision. Plus he talked to somebody else and they seemed to indicate they already had somebody in mind for the position...and so he decided not to apply. I'm okay with it. While I think it would have been a fun adventure, it's okay and we can always look into future assignments later when timing might be better.

With regards to our January trip...it is still on though I tried to convince my daughter last night that we cancelled it. She isn't buying that one. No reason to give you the resort information because in all honestly there's a HIGH HIGH probability it will change! I am a famous resort changer and while I have this booked mostly as a placeholder...we have already discussed rebooking the trip using our DVC points to make it pretty much free. I don't want to book it right now because I'm still not 100% sure we'll go and I'd like to wait until we are a bit closer to our dates to book something. If we can get something...GREAT...and if not...we can keep what we have and I may even consider checking on Shades of Green Resort as we get closer to our dates.
We'll see what happens. Heck even if I bought/transferred points from another DVC member for our January trip it would probably be cheaper than what we will end up paying for our four nights at our current resort.

Right now the focus is on Christmas...of course. My parents will join us for a long weekend around Christmas which will be nice. I have put quite a dent in my shopping for now but still have to come up with some good ideas for both sets of parents.

This weekend we will go visit Santa AND get our Christmas tree. The kids are just ITCHING to get the rest of the inside of the house all decorated. So I plan to start early Saturday morning, pulling stuff out and getting it ready.

Another REAL trip report will hopefully be up in the next few days!

 

[kittylady1972]

Another mundane life update...since I haven't found the time yet to do a trip update!

Friday was dinner with Santa at our local elementary school. As PTO Vice President I try to get as involved as I can with these events and help out the President. So I left work early to go to the school and cook and prepare the baked ziti trays, then returned a while later to actually cook and decorate. It was a success as always...such a fun and inexpensive family event!

Saturday was our Santa/Tree farm day. We had breakfast and then headed up to the tree farm mostly to see Santa. We decided to go ahead and look for a tree, and actually FOUND one this year...and then cut it down and hauled it back home with us. Kids visited Santa as well. It was all good. So the rest of Saturday I hauled all the boxes of decorations up from the basement and decorated the house and the tree and then hauled them back down. That evening I visited a coworker's house and had some girl time while my husband had some guys over for poker night.

Sunday was mostly spent trying to get started on holiday cards. The hardest part was getting the photo card created and printed but I picked that up that afternoon. So the cards are officially started and with any luck 1/3rd of them will be in the mail today! My plan is to stop at the post office on the way home and get stamps and mail the cards I have done.

Also knocked about a bit more shopping this weekend both online and in the stores. I still have things to get but I'm probably about 65-70% done and have some ideas for the rest. I'd love to have it all done by this week and just be able to relax this weekend!

Yet the house chores are falling behind since I did all that other stuff this weekend. Laundry and cleaning need to be done. I need to prepare the basement for my parents' arrival on Saturday. We still need to buy food for Christmas Day dinner and brunch, both of which we will prepare.

I can't believe a week from now will be Christmas Eve already!

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok, so when we last left we were on a BOAT on our way to the Magic Kingdom...and we were STARVING!

Of course, walking through those gates for the first time into the MK...well you know how GREAT that feels!

We had precious time to make it back to Liberty Tree Tavern for our lunch reservation. I wanted to go ahead and pick up my Photopass Plus card so we could start using it. So we were wandering Main Street looking for the photo place...it's so weird NOT knowing where something is in Disney!

Finally we got direction from a cast member, and I sent the rest of the gang ahead to LTT whille I went to pick up the card. I told them I'd meet them at the restaurant.

So I picked up the card and then hurried to LTT, not exactly sure where I was going but having a general idea. I found it easily and as I walked inside the restaurant they were JUST calling our table...AWESOME TIMING!

We were seated at a large round table in the middle of the restaurant. As it was a bit of a chilly day, the soup sounded wonderful. All of the adults and ONE kid got some soup: clam chowder for the adults and a large chicken noodle soup for the girl. It was wonderful but so filling...we should have shared. DH and I decided to split the pot roast meal here which was a good idea. They actually served it split onto two plates for us. Let me tell you...it was DELICIOUS! Kids got standard kids meals which I'm sure they ate, though DD wasn't too thrilled with her chicken noodle soup. I think she had some chowder and some oyster crackers.

Even though we were pretty full I just HAD to try the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake so we split a few of those. OMG I LOVED this dessert!

Honestly I must admit this was probably one of my favorite meals from the whole trip. When the bill came, my FIL insisted on paying and that's when I realized...oops hadn't picked up a new TIW card yet so no discount. It was an expensive lunch but I'd do it again. I just wish they had that same menu for dinner!

Sorry no food pics...but I think I got a pick of the girl looking over the LTT lobby which was pretty cool!

All stuffed and feeling content it was time to hit the park and ride some rides!!!

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok, when we last left this update we had just had a nice full lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern...and now it was time to hit some rides! Without a trip report, I can't say for sure what we did next but I can try to do my best to remember. I know we were right next to the Haunted Mansion, but I think we may have headed over to BTMRR first. I seem to recall a line and us grabbing fastpasses...then heading back to do Haunted Mansion while we waited for our Fastpass time.

So I think we went through the scenic route just to play with the stuff, and before long we were here:

We got on the ride and I was testing out my camera to see if I could get some inside photos without the flash. It suddenly became easier when the ride stopped...and we had a long time to watch these guys:

Then I think it was back to BTMRR for a ride. Beyond that...I don't recall what we did. I'm sure it was late afternoon at this time. We had an early dinner reservation at Sanaa and wanted to check into our room, so I think we probably headed back out of the park at this point. Oh but wait...we had to get that Photopass Plus tested out. So we hopped on this for one ride:

And of course, on the way out we had some family photos taken:

So then we hopped back on the boat for our ride back to the Wilderness Lodge.

Bye Magic Kingdom...for now:

Oh and the boat driver pointed out some of these on the boat ride back...

DISNEY DEER!!!

Soon we were back at the Lodge and ready to check into our room!

 

[kittylady1972]

The Wilderness Lodge is just so beautiful. I only wish we had more time to spend here. It's not an easy DVC Resort to book since there are so few DVC units there, but I got lucky at the 7-month out mark and got it. I think we will have to stay there again sometime.

Some photos around the resort:

This was the pool outside of our building....with the bubbling water it looked SO inviting. Kids were dying to try it...but we would not get that chance.

The lobby of our building had it's own tree...so nice!

View from our floor level of the tree:

We went right to the room but had the guys head to the lobby to have them get our luggage which we had dropped off. It was really nice. My first priority was to have the beds made and ready to go. There were two sleeper couches for the kids, one in our bedroom and one in the main room. We wanted to have them all made up and ready so we could go to dinner and then hit a park and if we got back late the kids could go right to bed. This took quite some figuring out on my part...and probably would have been easier if I had read the instructions with the beds that I saw later! They are very unique in the way they unfold.

Anyway some photos here were taken after we had already set to work on getting the room ready for us later, but you can get the idea here.

(with blankets and pillows stuffed under the table ready for the evening later)

Our bedroom with the couch ready into the bed for later:

Looking from the bedroom doorway into the main area of kitchen and living room:

Balcony with view of the woods:

Our luggage was delivered and we quickly unpacked some stuff. However we had Sanaa waiting for us, so we headed out to Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge next.

We were close to reservation time but I wasn't worried. The lobby here is so nice:

We checked out some animals from right outside the restaurant:

Our table was ready quickly and I think we were right at the table or next to the one where we ate back in June. It was here in June that my father-in-law brought up the idea of us extending our then non-Disney vacation and adding a few Disney days. I could not believe it...but sure enough that was what we did. Does he look happy here again or what?

My FIL and husband love the beer here at Sanaa...and it is ONLY served here at the Animal Kingdom Lodge at Disney.

The kids were happy too:

And the hubby and myself:

We had a wonderful meal at Sanaa. We weren't terribly hungry after our big lunch earlier, so we shared some things and that worked out well. After dinner, we decided to walk off a little of our food...and so we headed here:

I honestly don't recall what we did here. I think we must have done Mission: Space since I see this photo:

We had no hopes for riding Soarin' and we knew we'd hit Spaceship Earth on the way out of the park. I am sure we didn't do much. At some point I got into it with the 12-year-old son about something...and I know I was angry enough to make him sit OUT of the next ride. It was a ride he really wanted to do too. So I sent everybody else in to ride it while I waited with him:

I think we headed out after this but I know we stopped for another nice photo of my daughter here:

And the kids had to stop and play here:

We were all trying to capture some great photos of the sidewalk here, not an easy task.

I'm sure we took a ride on Spaceship Earth before heading out of the park and snapping one more photo of this guy:

We had to drive back through the gates to get to our resort. Another favorite view:

It was back for some sleep and we had our first FULL day at Disney the next day! Which park would that be?? Stay tuned!

 

[kittylady1972]

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17th​

Our first full day at Walt Disney World had arrived! Rather than push it and try to do rope drop at Hollywood Studios, I decided we'd just take our time and arrive whenever we could get there. So we all got up and dressed and headed over to Roaring Forks for some breakfast.

More scenic photos:

So another side note about the Wilderness Lodge. While this was the first stay at this resort for most of us, back in 2001 my FIL and MIL stayed at this resort. It was Nicolas' first trip to Walt Disney World and we were unable to all stay at the same resort due to availability. So the 3 of us (DH, myself and Nicolas) stayed at a Garden Wing room at the Contemporary and my in-laws stayed at Wilderness Lodge. It wasn't terribly far away so not too bad. It was while visiting them at their resort that we snapped a photo of Frank holding Nicolas. Well it was during this stay that we spotted the same Mickey shaped shrub where that photo was taken...and so we snapped another one now that it was just over 11 years later. Take a peek:

We got a photo this time of the while family too:

Oh and my 12 year old had his hidden Mickey book handy and we had to spot this hidden Mickey in the lobby:

Did you see it? Here's a hint:

So we had a nice breakfast at Roaring Forks and then hopped in the car and drove over to Hollywood Studios.

Hollywood Studios Tree:

It was after 9am so we already knew there was no hope for getting onto Toy Story Mania. I decided to pull up the Touring Plans app and see if I could find the best way to maximize our park time. And thus begain our first Walt Disney World park argument of the trip.

I can't recall the exact details. Basically we really wanted to have a chance at Toy Story Mania and it seems that the recommendation was to pull a fastpass for one ride (I think TOT) and then wait in line for TSM which was showing I think 70 minutes, but Touring Plans suggested the wait would be closer to 40 minutes. The problem is that it would mean we'd miss our window for the Fastpass for TOT if the wait was closer to the 70 minutes. The kids did NOT want to wait in line. I told them it would mean we wouldn't be riding that ride (TSM) today if we didn't. They were okay with it. I gave in reluctantly.

I honestly don't recall where we went from there, but it may have been Star Tours since we had the fastpass for TOT to wait for anyway. So I think we rode Star Tours and then headed over to Tower of Terror, passing RnRC on the way and pulling a fastpass there. We must have taken some photos somewhere between:

That's when my youngest child decided he didn't want to RIDE Tower of Terror. WHAT??

He's been on it before. I tried to bribing and convincining and finally we just got in line. I was sure by the time we got on the ride I could talk him into changing his mind. I was still sure of that as we got to the top and walked towards our designated elevator car...and that's when DS8 pulled out the "my stomach hurt" card and I wasn't willing to chance THAT or risk others in that car for that. So I had to tell the cast member we needed to be escorted out, and so I got my first view of the back of Tower of Terror. Great.

The rest of our group got on the ride and of course thanks to my Photopass Plus card we got the photo:

Everybody got off the ride and I was still pretty upset with my youngest, sure it was just faking it. However we noted he seemed a little warm and then I started feeling bad. So we got him a drink in the gift shop and sat outside the ride to see how he felt. It seemed he started feeling better...and what did he want to do? Well he really wanted to ride Rock N Roller Coaster of course!

So we got into line for the ride. As we went through the line and were standing close to where we boarded, my FIL somehow started talking about the fact that this ride had no loops...and we all looked at him like he had three heads? What? Surely he realized this ride had loops, he'd been on it many times. Nope. So then we asked a cast member and her reply was something like yes there were 3 loops...two large and one small. I think that's what she said...and we just had to laugh!

Anyway we enjoyed the ride despite what the photos seem to indicate for some of us:

I think after this we decided it was lunchtime and that meant a turkey leg for me! We all hit the nearby outdoor food court like area and scattered to get something to eat. After lunch, I decided I just HAD to have one of those famous cupcakes so as he headed back over to the other side of the park (I think our intention was Great Movie Ride) I stopped at Starring Rolls and purchase a cupcake and then sat down and ate the whole thing, sharing only with my daughter. It was delicious and worth it! I must stop in there again!

We headed over to Great Movie Ride and looked around and all the sidewalk imprints of famous people for a while. I think we were looking for Carol Burnett's star which was supposed to have a hidden mickey in it according to DS12. Eventually we had to ask a cast member to show it to us!

So we got onto the ride and as we were going through and passed through the scene where the gangsters should get boarding the car...and they didn't...my father-in-law once again was sure for some reason we would NOT be treated to that special little show within a show there. I guess perhaps he had never been on the ride when we had the Western portion of the show so we just waited. As we went into the western scene and somebody did board our car during that part I guess he got to see that for the first time!

We got out of Great Movie Ride and then...we were stumped. We knew Toy Story Mania wasn't an option. Kids did NOT want to see Muppets...and I was quite sad about that one! Nobody was up for Little Mermaid either and we were just too late for the next Beauty and the Beast Show. We were just not sure what to do. I think we may have done Star Tours again? Not even sure but that seems right.

So we had to be at Hoop de Doo Dinner show that day for the 4pm show and I guess we figured it was about time to head back to the room. We'd have a short time to wait there before we'd have to head back out to Hoop de Doo. This would be the kids and the other two adults first time for this show. How would they like it??

 

[kittylady1972]

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17th CONT'D

So we just left Hollywood Studios and headed back for a short break in our room. We knew we needed to allow plenty of travel time to reach Pioneer Hall for our 4pm Hoop de Doo Reservation and so we headed over to Ft Wilderness.

We found parking and made our way over to the main building. We had plenty of time but weren't sure where to go, so we finally got directions on how to get to Pioneer Hall...and were directed to catch a bus. I think we headed over to a bus stop but it appeared to be the stop for the Magical Express. Sure enough, asked again only to find we had to walk across the street to another bus stop. Okay then...

So we waited and finally the bus arrived. Wow...didn't realize just how vast the Ft. Wilderness Area was there! We had been considering cabins there for a future trip but it seems just so huge! I still think it might be cool to do someday...but not sure the family shares that sentiment!

Eventually we found our way here:

We had LOTS of time before our reservation. So the kids spotted this:

They played for a little bit, and then we had some photo ops of the nice tree here:

(Noah age 8 insisted on having his OWN photo and NOT with his sister...and so we also have this one)

'

I guess sometimes being child number 3 can get old having to do everything with your siblings!

We took a family photo which turned out great:

Before long, we had some bread and salad and the kids dug right in:

I took photos of the hall all decorated for the holidays:

Soon enough, the show was beginning:

Introductions were made...and he clearly stole the show:

More show:

And at the end, we got to play our own instruments:

All in all, it was just a fabulous show! The kids really enjoyed it and I was surprised that even my picky eater found some food. My youngest did ask for some mac n'cheese (not a regular menu item) and they served a nice dish of that for him. I though the chicken and ribs were good, the salad was nice, the all you can drink sangria was VERY nice, and really overall I wasn't there for the food but the experience. It definitely delivered. I don't know if we'll do it again anytime soon but as a special thing every so often I think it's great!

After we were all well stuffed full of food, we hopped our bus back to our car and drove back to the resort. That's when we decided we really wanted to spend some time at MK for the evening. I though my FIL would jump at the chance to see the new Fantasyland finally...but he and MIL declined so it was just the five of us.

We arrived when it was dark and I insisted on tons of family photos with the castle, driving everyone insane.

Hey I needed a holiday card photo!

We decided to make our way first towards the new Circus area since we hadn't seen that yet.

A ride on the newly relocated Dumbo was a must here. It looks so cool at night:

Kids also wanted to ride Barnstormer, so we did that quickly as well.

And that was all for that part....but would we be able to get into new Fantasyland? It still wasn't unofficially open to the public until the following week. We headed over there anyway.

There was a guy outside of it with a rope who said they were still in dress rehearsal mode. They were having a ticketed event there too for some of the attractions...but we would be allowed into the area! YIPPEE!

We were just so excited, even though it was at night we had to walk around a bit. They were letting people on the Little Mermaid Ride without tickets...so of course we had to try it out!

The kids could not believe it and neither could we that we were getting this chance. It was so cool!

And a quick photo in front of Gaston's fountain:

We could not see Storytime with Belle as they were still only allowing the ticket holders into that area. They said we could try back later...but we didn't do that. We were happy just being able to do what we had done already.

CONTINUED.....

 

[kittylady1972]

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17th CONT'D​

Kids wanted to drive the cars...isn't that the coolest thing for all kids? So over to Tomorrowland Speedway for a short ride:

It was late and we had an early breakfast the next day. It would be our Chef Mickey's meal and then we'd head out to Port Canaveral for our cruise!

So back on the boat to our resort:

On the way back over we saw this:

And the Contemporary holds fond memories of past visits for us:

When we returned to the resort, we were walking by the beach and we spotted the evening Boat Parade about to begin...and we had prime viewing. We plopped down in the sand and watched the show which the kids thought was the coolest thing. I guess we've always seen it from a distance but never the entire thing...with music. So it was a nice end to our fabulous evening.

Then we returned to our room, knocked the sand out of the shoes, and kids were in bed while I packed and repacked everything for the next morning. We were trying to minimize the bags to take on the cruise with us as there was no need to take EVERYTHING. I think I finally got to bed after 11pm that night!

UP NEXT: Chef Mickey and our DISNEY DREAM becomes a reality!

 

[DMGeurts]

OK... Totally Loving your Hoop-De-Do photos... Depending on what Disney offers for discount codes, this is something we would really like to try to do... What was your travel time to get there? And it looks to be pretty difficult to find once you are there?? Interesting.

Isn't Dumbo at night ahhhhmazing???? It's like this ride that you don't give that much thought to... and then you see the new ride at night - and it's like this magical dream that you just can't look away from. LOVE IT!

So cool that they let you into FLE and you got to ride TLM!!! I am super excited to be able to go back just to do those things!

Sounds like an awesome end to a magical day!

D~

 

[kittylady1972]

OK... Totally Loving your Hoop-De-Do photos... Depending on what Disney offers for discount codes, this is something we would really like to try to do... What was your travel time to get there? And it looks to be pretty difficult to find once you are there?? Interesting.

Isn't Dumbo at night ahhhhmazing???? It's like this ride that you don't give that much thought to... and then you see the new ride at night - and it's like this magical dream that you just can't look away from. LOVE IT!

So cool that they let you into FLE and you got to ride TLM!!! I am super excited to be able to go back just to do those things!

Sounds like an awesome end to a magical day!

D~

D - You should DEFINITELY look into Hoop de Doo. It was really a fun experience and just something different. The kids just loved it and the food was good. I know the dining plan has some options for going...be it late or early I can't recall. We did the early show and enjoyed it. The travel time wasn't horrible...just a bit confusing for us "pros" who were not familiar with this resort. I would probably make sure to show up AT the resort (if driving or by bus) at least a good 30 minutes before the show, to give you time to catch the "internal" resort bus back to the area. It does drop you off right where you need to be. I think if you catch a boat over it might be even easier. Catching a boat from the MK puts you right in the right place...but we didn't realize that until much later. You can avoid that whole internal bus ride if you do the boat instead.

I admit the night in NEW Fantasyland, even though it was a short time at MK, was really really great. I really love being in the parks at night...just such a different experience. We didn't have as much of a desire to do Dumbo during the day but at night with no line...it was nice.

 

[kittylady1972]

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18th​

After being up late the night before, it was time to get up early for our Chef Mickey's Breakfast which was just after 7am! I knew it was early but also that we were close and driving so it shouldn't be too difficult to make that time.

We headed over to the Contemporary, checked in and had the obligatory family photo taken. Yippee for Photopass Plus since we got that photo package without paying extra! I'll have to post that here later:

((PHOTO PLACEHOLDER))

We were seated and the characters were just coming out. First up was Goofy I believe:

And then...my daughter spilled some kind of sauce all over the front of her skirt. It looked pretty bad...it was red and dark and RIGHT in the front. So she donned her fleece coat and attempted to hide in the back for all remaining photos, like Donald:

Oh and Minnie got a BIG hug first:

Then a group photo:

Pluto is always fun...love the way he holds up his ears here:

And last but not least, Mickey:

Food was okay, but I missed the Krispy Kreme-like glazed donuts they used to have here. We were really here because it is a tradition. Believe it or not we are actually SKIPPING the Chef for our 2013 trip in a few weeks! Just don't want to spend the money.

After breakfast, I wanted a photo of my DH in front of this Chef Mickey wreath, but a cast member came over and said she wanted to have us "pose" in front of the wreath instead. So these "poses" were her idea:

Basically it is DH with his arms crossed because he spent so much on this meal and me...happy of course. Cute.

After our meal, kids wanted to get some pressed coins and look through the gift shops a the Contemporary. I took this photo outisde the gift shop of this cool display:

Breakfast complete, it was back to the room. We had to pack everything up and make our way out to the Port for part TWO of our 3-part trip: THE DISNEY DREAM CRUISE!!

 

[kittylady1972]

Sorry for the delay in updates, I know so many people are just anxiously awaiting the rest of my trip report! Just wanted to write a quick post here so I don't forget about it. I've been extra busy on my PRE trip report regarding our trip that is now less than two weeks away! I'm hoping to finish this report first so I don't have to work on two reports at once, but we will see if I can do that.

Around our house the focus is on stuff around the house and FOOTBALL as our BALTIMORE RAVENS won a big game this weekend and are one step closer to the Superbowl. We have been hosting playoff parties at our house and will host another one next weekend. We ALWAYS host a Superbowl party too, no matter who is playing, but it would be nice if the Ravens were playing.

So that's about it from here and hopefully I'll be able to get back soon with an update!

 

[kittylady1972]

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18th (cont'd) - READY FOR OUR DREAM!
Ok when we last left off we were on our way to Port Caneveral for our Disney Dream Cruise!!! I think the drive took us about an hour and a half and we arrived in plenty of time. It was so cool to see this:

We were directed about parking and my husband decided to spring for the closer parking, but he still pulled up to the curb and let us all unload our stuff. Then he drove off to park while we got into line to fill out our paperwork and go through security.

I had completed most of our paperwork and my husband arrived pretty quickly. He pretty much parked right in front of the main building! We had to go through security and which point my MIL hit a snafu when she discovered she was carrying contraband! That's right, her travel iron was NOT allowed on the cruise. I may not have mentioned this before, but my FIL has this thing about ironing and that's one of the first things he tends to do when we arrive at hotels. This was gonna get ugly for sure!

Check-in went pretty smoothly. I handed over all of our paperwork and everybody got their photo taken for security purposes and we got our cards and state room assignments. I think our boarding time was group 9 or so which was pretty early. The in-laws had a boarding time right after ours so we figured we'd wait for them.

It wasn't too long of a wait and the place filled up pretty quickly with people. They called our group and we did go ahead and get in line, figuring we'd meet up with the in-laws later. We had most of our luggage with us as we boarded. Our reason? We had our adults-only dinner at Palo that night and couldn't be sure we'd have our luggage delivered in time to get dressed up for dinner!

We got on board and looked around a little bit, but eventually decided we wanted to head to get some food and go to the pool! So we got directions and headed there.

It was already a bit crowded, but we found some chairs and settled on a spot. We stored our luggage behind the lounges and then the kids were of course ready for swimming. We headed to the bathrooms to change into our suits and soon the kids were happy:

We grabbed some food and some drinks and worked on getting in touch with the in-laws. Eventually they did find us on the pool deck as well.

After we got some food into the kids, they were ready to hit the Aquaduck!

We learned that our middle two kids had to have somebody with them to ride it. So we designated the oldest child to ride with them. I can't remember who he took with him first, all I know is they went down once and had a blast. Then two other kids went up and that's when they closed the Aquaduck because somebody was stuck.

It would be later but eventually I would get a few photos of the rides they had there:

 

[kittylady1972]

Sunday Nov. 18th (cont'd) - Disney Dream

When we last left, we had boarded the DREAM Cruise ship. We all hit the pool and the kids took a ride on the Aquaduck. We had a little lunch and waited for our room to be ready. Eventually we decided to make our way over to our room and found our luggage all outside the hallway.

We entered our stateroom...and WOW! It was pretty spacious and so nice! We had this great porthole to look out:

And we could see a much smaller looking Carnival ship also at port:

We had a little time to kill so we also decided to wander out and find the kids' club for the evening and check that out:

Now our original plan was to have our Adults-Only dinner at Palo. However when I got our meal schedule I learned that our first night's dinner was to be at Animator's Palate and I REALLY wanted to eat there with the kids. It would be our only day eating there...and so I got on the phone to try to make some changes.

Eventually I was able to make the change and we could keep our Animator's Palate dinner and moved Palo to the next night. This was GREAT news for my FIL who was in a panic because his clothes were very wrinkled and he had no way to iron them. He wanted to send them out but of course they wouldn't be back in time for that night. We would not discover the room on our floor with the iron until much later!

So we all got cleaned up and made our way out to dinner. Here are the kids at Animator's Palate:

Now before we headed out to dinner, they did have some all ship announcements that we heard in our room. One of those was that we would have some rough waters on our way out of the port and for about 6 hours. Sure enough, by dinnertime this was VERY noticeable. For the most part, we were all feeling okay but while sitting at the dinner table there was DEFINITELY some rocking going on. Plenty of people were clearly having a hard time, the dining room had a lot of empty spots and people were carrying food out to take back to their rooms.

We had a wonderful serving team at dinner. They kept us entertained with magic and puzzles at the table. I wish I could recall their names or where they were from. This would be the only night we would all have dinner together so thankfully it was really nice.

After dinner we returned to our room...where we found this:

Awesome towel crab (coming from Maryland...way cool for us!) and our beds had all been turned down and the kids were turned out:

There was some disagreement about who would sleep where but they did find their spots for the night:

Since we had changed our adults-only night to Monday night, we still had wanted to find a place to watch the big Ravens vs Steelers game on tv. We decided we'd take the kids to the kids club for a while and we would head up to the pool deck to watch the game on the big screen.

My oldest son was given the choice to go the kids' club or older club or stay in the room and he chose the room. We headed down to drop the younger two kids off at the kids club. My 10yo daughter was NOT happy about this, while my youngest son (age 8) pretty much walked right into the club and barely said goodbye to me. I can't remember where DH had wondered off to but I spent quite a bit of time outside the doors of the check-in area with my daughter trying to convince her to go inside. Eventually a cast member spoke to her and said maybe I could go inside WITH her for a bit and just see if we would like it.

Now I knew she would LOVE it inside with all the stuff to do there...singing, dancing, crafts...so much better than sitting in the room and watching tv which she does NOT like to do at ALL! So I went inside and we sat at the dance floor for a while. Eventually another cast member inside, noting my presence, asked why I was there and I explained the situation. She made a note to talk to Noelle, see what she liked, and decided to lead us over to the craft room. She introduced Noelle there to another cast member and that is when I was able to finally make my escape!

We grabbed the in-laws and headed up to the pool deck. The four of us grabbed some lounge chairs and just watched the game on the huge screen! We had a wave phone with us in case Nicolas or the kids club called us. Sure enough, I think after about an hour we got a text from the kids club and a call from Nicolas...letting us know the kids club had called and Noelle wanted to leave. So I went downstairs and picked up the two younger kids from the kids club. I decided to go ahead and deposit them back in our stateroom with our oldest son and told them they could watch tv there. Then I joined the adults back on the pool deck.

I think it was just past halftime or later that I decided to go check on the kids. I found both older kids sound asleep and my youngest happily watching tv. I had him turn the tv off and go to sleep as well.

We finished watching the game and went back to our room, having enjoyed our night and having won the game.

Up next...first PORT: kids leave the US for their first time ever!

 

[kittylady1972]

Fingers crossed I hope to do more updates tomorrow!!

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok so I'm not sure I'll get to that update tonight. Busy, busy weekend with not much computer time. I'll try to get some photos up to so an update soon.