From Fantasyland to the Fantasy: We came, we saw, we kicked it's AFT! UPDATED 1/10!

.....me thinks readin' this here Trip report 'tis gonna be quite fun!! pirate:
(& I am a subbin 2) -




T.T.F.N.:wave2:
 
can't wait to hear about the Fantasy. we might be pushing off our Fantasy sailing (it's in 2013 already!) so i'm dying to know what we will be missing... maybe it'll sway us back to keeping it as-is :thumbsup2
 
I can't wait to read all about this! Can you finish the cruise part by the time I leave on Friday for my own Fantasy Eastern cruise? :rotfl:

Jill in CO

We're flying out on Friday, too!!! Jen...any chance you have Navigators that you could post? As the designated cruise director for our group, I'd love to see when certain activities are taking place on board. :goodvibes
 
Hi Jen!

Seems like I am always following you! You probably don't remember me, but dh and I cruised on the Oasis last Thanksgiving (and had the absolute worst sailaway - hours after we were supposed to leave!). I followed your Allure report closely. Your report really helped me a lot on the Oasis. I was always telling my dh, well nenner1 says this and nenner1 says that! You know, like close personal friends! :laughing:

This year for Thanksgiving we are sailing on the Fantasy, so I can't wait to read more and see all your pics. We've sailed twice on the Dream so at least I have an idea of what to expect. Our cruise goes to St. Thomas (we booked the Kon Tiki - did you hear anything about it?) and San Juan.

Now, you MUST, MUST have this report finished by Thanksgiving, ok?! :yay:

Your DIS group looks and sounds like a good time was had by all! Do you have a report over on CC?

P.S. Your kids have grown SO much since last year! Wow! :)
 


Looking forward to reading the report. Sailing on the Fantasy for NYE and going to St Thomas and San Juan ( love it but not really for younger kids). We went on the Oasis with family this past March and I didn't like it. Not enough "cruise ship" feeling to me.
 


Hooray I love your TRs! We fell in LOVE with the Fantasy on the MV, I hope you guys did too!:thumbsup2
 
Can't wait to hear more and see all 9999 photos and the pre pre cruise stay. If you would do me a small favor, finish your trip report before Dec 15, 2012 so I am all ready to sail on an Eastern!!:rotfl2:
 
Ooooo, how could I forget about you and Your trip reports?????? Glad I found the start of this one :thumbsup2 I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE REST OF IT! Oh, and those Cape Caribe Resort Pics :)
 
Joining in. You are so fast. I was on a Disney cruise the same week, though it was the Magic out of Galveston. Can't wait to hear how your trip went.
I am hoping to start mine tonight or tomorrow. I'll post the link in my signature.
 
The day we had been waiting for has finally arrived! 20 Months after we booked our Disney Fantasy cruise- after all of the planning, anticipation, research...it was here! We could hardly believe it!


We had booked this cruise as a dummy date onboard the Magic in 2010. When we were finally alerted that people had been able to pre-book Fantasy cruises through their TA’s in February of 2011 we were delighted to be able to assign our empty cruise block a date: September 22, 2012! This was very exciting to us- only about 6 months after the Fantasy’s Maiden Voyage so she would still be brand spanking new but hopefully we had given her enough time to work out the kinks.


So we spent the next nearly 2 years planning, reading, researching…watching her being built from a bare steel frame up to a beautiful vessel on the Meyer-Werft webcam. We shared the anticipation with a wonderful group here on the Dis. Together we watched her built, christened, then finally sail out on her Maiden Voyage.

And then just 26 short weeks later it was our turn!


Wednesday September 19, 2012 started as just a normal day, off to school for the kids and work for Ron. I spent the morning finalizing laundry and packing and printing- or attempting to print- my magnets. You see, I used to print my magnets on magnet paper but the last few cruises I had been just printing them on cardstock and using adhesive magnet strips. But…here we are a mere hour from leaving I am ready to print and WHERE IS MY CARDSTOCK?!?! After a harried search through an armoire finally I found a box of printable cards and envelopes. A cursory examination and the “cards” looked like regular plain old 8.5 x 11 cardstock. Sweet! I hurriedly printed up all of my magnet designs and then- we were done! Ready to get this party started!


Ron left work early and picked up the two older kids at school and I picked up Sarah from her school. We met at home packed the bags and we were off to Walt Disney World! We live in Tampa FL, so the trip is only about an hour or so East across I-4.

Who’s excited??? Or...not?

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Just an hour later…look!

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Look out Mickey, here we come!

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We have arrived!

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Due to the generosity of a wonderful friend from whom I rented some DVC points we would be staying for the first time at a DVC resort- Old Key West. We were very excited about this, as normally in situations where we only need a place to lay our heads at night for a few short hours we would opt for a cheaper hotel room offsite via Priceline or Hotwire or one of those travel sites. But this really helped put us in the right mindset for a luxury DISNEY vacation!


As we drove through the familiar WDW property we realized we didn’t bother to map out exactly where OKW was. Hmm. I think it’s by Downtown Disney I say. Ron grumbles. I scramble on my phone to map it. It’s Disney after all- we are here every 2 months or so we know this place like the back of our hands. Right?


Well we headed in the direction of Downtown Disney and turns out I was right. We spotted this DVC gazebo thing and I knew OKW was right behind it.

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Yep yep!

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So we pulled in and parked and Ron Savannah and I headed in to check in.

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It was very quiet in the lobby at this time of day. Everyone was super friendly and check in only took about 5 minutes.

A quick view of the lobby. I thought I took more pics but I guess I didn't.

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We had booked (via our awesome friend) a room near the “Hospitality House”- which means near the lobby restaurants and main pool area. Since OKW is so large and sprawling instead of just making a location request at other resorts, here you actually select this location specifically when you book your reservation. It doesn’t cost any extra to stay in rooms/villas near the Hospitality House but I did love the way this was done. That way it isn’t just a “request”- if there is availability when you book and you specify this location that is where you will be. I really liked that.

The lobby was beautiful and the resort did indeed have an authentic Key West feel. Besides that for sure they have the best soundtrack on property. Jimmy Buffett…hello!

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And so we were checked in and headed to our room. It was located directly across the parking lot from the Hospitality House. Perfect!

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Our building:

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To get to our room we followed the path through these buildings:

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And up the stairs:

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We were in Room #1220 a second floor studio overlooking the golf course:

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Welcome Home!


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The room was definitely clean, a good size, and well appointed. It was homey and comfortable.

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It had two queen beds a dinette, a kitchenette and a large bathroom. More than enough space for us for one night!
 
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Kitchenette:

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Bathroom: decent sized but older. I swear that my grandma has the same peachy/pink colored shower in her house (which was built in 1959 in FL, so yeah...)

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The hallway from the bathroom looking back into the main room area:

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Towel animal (a flower):

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Ceiling fan (always nice to have in FL especially when we found the room never really cooled to our liking - which is very cold):

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It also had this small but quaint balcony.

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Ron noticed that the other balconies had something ours didn’t though- a small table.

A quick examination of the grounds below and we found our table. Hmmm.

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The kids liked it!

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In any event we brought up our luggage got settled, changed into our swimsuits and got ready to head for the pool!

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Next: If it looks like Margaritaville and sounds like Margaritaville, it must be... Old Key West?
 
Off to a great start! Love OKW...cheap in points and the rooms are really big!

Jill in CO
 

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