"A free trip to the World? Sweet!" - AUGUST 2013 WDW AEP TR updated 10/19

[jenny105]

Next we toured the adult section of the ship which includes Pink, Skyline, Evolution, and 687. Pink is supposed to look like youre inside of a champagne bottle.

Chandelier made out of champagne flutes.

Skyline was next. The skyline changes every so often to reflect a different city. I wouldnt mind hanging out in here!

687 is the ships sports bar. Its named after what the ships code name was before it became the Dream  687.

Time to see another restaurant. Enchanted Garden is one of the main dining rooms on the Dream. There were lots of people here because it was one of the options open for lunch.

Next was Royal Palace. Another main dining room but this one is a bit more upscale.

The bread basket is Cinderellas coach!

There were pictures of each princess in her maiden and princess form.

And finally the third main dining room.

I liked this restaurant on Wonder and Dream but its much more vibrant on the newer Disney ships. I love the chairs and the table numbers especially. I think they have updated the Magic to reflect this design. Hoping the Wonder will go in for a refurb next.

We also got to see rooms but we werent allowed to take pictures because the rooms werent guest ready yet. We saw an inside stateroom, a couple verandahs, an oceanview but no suites. That was a bummer because when I toured the Magic a couple years back we were shown both the Roy and Walt Disney suites. Oh well!

We had lunch at Cabanas which is the Dreams buffet. It was delicious! They had many options included crab legs which I made a beeline for. The only complaint I had about this day was that they spaced out breakfast and lunch so far apart. We ate breakfast at 7:30 and didnt sit down for lunch until close to 2! Everyone was hungry, cranky, and complaining at that point. I wished theyd split the tour up and took a break for lunch in between. I made sure to mention it when they handed out feedback surveys at the end of our trip. Im sure everyone else did too!

After lunch we met back in the Atrium before disembarking.

Atrium chandelier.

Admiral Donald.

We bid farewell to the Dream, returned our badges, and headed back to the bus. I think I napped most of the way back to WDW. We had one more stop before breaking and heading back to the Grand Floridian. Stay tuned for one more resort tour!
​

 

[klacey1]

I love the dress you wore to Cape May! And I must say I'm shocked you all managed to complete breakfast in 45 minutes!!
That sign for the theater is gorgeous! Everything on the ship looks so fancy. And I love the swim up bar in the adult pool!
That Toy Story room is unbelievable! I want to play with Mr. Potato Head's face haha

 

[jdfmommy]

Oh great, now I don't just wasn't too do to wdw, I want to go on a Disney Cruise too! I love cruising but I've never tried DCL. Well, another line item on my "someday" list! Have fun on your upcoming cruise!

 

[jenny105]

I love the dress you wore to Cape May! And I must say I'm shocked you all managed to complete breakfast in 45 minutes!!
That sign for the theater is gorgeous! Everything on the ship looks so fancy. And I love the swim up bar in the adult pool!
That Toy Story room is unbelievable! I want to play with Mr. Potato Head's face haha

Thank you! Believe it or not I got it from Kmart. Cute and affordable!

The ship is gorgeous. All of the Disney ships are. They don't scream Disney but there are subtle touches all over the ship that remind you who you're sailing with. Not to mention the character meet & greets.

They could've left me in the Toy Story room for the rest of the day. I loved it!

Oh great, now I don't just wasn't too do to wdw, I want to go on a Disney Cruise too! I love cruising but I've never tried DCL. Well, another line item on my "someday" list! Have fun on your upcoming cruise!

DCL is great. I've sailed with them twice, RCCL once, and this will be my fourth with NCL. Can you tell I like to cruise? DCL is pricey but it's worth it to try it at least once. Hope you get on one of their ships one day!

Thank you!

 

[RGirl]

Oh, wow - your tour of the Dream made me "homesick" for the Fantasy - we had so much fun on that ship this summer! How cool that you were able to check out so much!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

ahh smart move taking your license and then making you return your badge to get it back...no way for you to hang back and sneak on board that way huh.

 

[jenny105]

Oh, wow - your tour of the Dream made me "homesick" for the Fantasy - we had so much fun on that ship this summer! How cool that you were able to check out so much!

I'm jealous, I've never seen the Fantasy. I've only cruised with the original Disney ships. Dying to get on one of the new ships!

ahh smart move taking your license and then making you return your badge to get it back...no way for you to hang back and sneak on board that way huh.

Yep couldn't trick them!

 

[jenny105]

Our last site inspection was supposed to be Blizzard Beach but we ended up at Coronado Springs since we missed it on the first day. I was glad we went to CSR instead because I’ve been to Blizzard Beach before. I don’t have many pictures of CSR because my camera died. We had a quick tour of the grounds and a 2 BR suite which I didn’t even know CSR offered. It’s geared more toward business people but it was absolutely gorgeous! I definitely wouldn’t mind staying in one of those. I was disappointed we didn’t get to see the pool because I hear it’s quite impressive but oh well. You can’t always get what you want!

The lobby

Domed ceiling of the lobby

The three cabarellos!

The dig site off in the distance

Once again we were shown the conference center. Maybe the other people in our group sell a lot of group space but I know I don’t. I was not interested in the conference centers at all but they made it a point to show it if it was available at the hotel. I saw enough of the GF conference center thank you very much!

We returned to GF around 5. Our plan was to head over to DHS but I knew Lorraine wasn’t feeling all that great. I left it up to her and she decided DHS was worth seeing. We freshened up and then headed to the bus stop. Ok let’s just put it out there – GF’s bus service is horrible. There is one bus stop for all of the buses. It took 20 minutes for us to even SEE a bus and then it turned out it wasn’t ours. To be honest I am not a fan of Disney’s transportation system at all. It seems to have gotten worse with every visit or maybe I’ve just grown more impatient. Either way I’m never going to Disney again without renting a car. It’s so much easier!

Anyway our bus finally showed up and we were on our way to DHS!

We stopped to get our picture taken by a Photopass photog and Lorraine noticed his name tag said he attended school at Montclair. A fellow New Jersian! It turned out that he was in the theatre program and knew our co-worker’s son! Small world (no pun intended).

We used our fastpasses to get on Toy Story Mania. I kicked Lorraine’s butt but my score was not as high as it should been because the screen with the plates wasn’t working & we couldn’t shoot.

After TSM we headed toward Tower of Terror. Lorraine sat this one out and I braved it by myself. I ended up getting a whole row to myself and enjoyed the ride as usual. It’s a blast and one of my favorite rides, if not THE favorite.

Shot of ToT just for Kimmy!

It was getting close to Wishes time which is a must see for me. Lorraine was feeling up to it so we headed over to MK and met up with Kristin. First things first, I stopped for a Dole Whip float. I was one of the last people in line and it took longer than it should have but it was worth it. They’re absolutely delicious!

The hub was crazy so we settled over by Tomorrowland Terrace to watch the fireworks. In hindsight this was a bad idea because we kept hearing the recording from TTA over and over again. It started to drive us crazy after a while!

My pictures of the fireworks didn’t come out great but they’re all I’ve got.

The castle looks like it blew up in this one!

After Wishes we headed back to GF. The wait for the monorail was a bit long but manageable. Before going back to the room we stopped at Gasparilla Grill for a bite to eat. I ended up getting sushi. Yum! Then we turned in for the night.

Day 4 Ending - Stay tuned for our last day which includes a surprise guest during graduation. I’ll post that tomorrow (I need something to do to kill my last day at work before vacation lol). I leave Sunday and I’ll be in Epcot Tuesday! I can’t wait!​

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

awesome you are going to be there next week, but you realize you also stink because you will be there next week and i wont.

 

[klacey1]

Coronado is really nice! I just wish it wasn't all the way over by AK. Although if I rented a car like you do, I might consider it. (Although the trip to MK would be a longggg one and driving to the MK is always a pain!!)
No matter how many times I've been on TSMM, my score is more like Lorraine's! I'm just not good at it! The ring toss game is always my downfall!
Wow, the hub looks crowded!!

 

[RGirl]

How great that you managed to fit in two parks even after touring the dream and CSR! You really made amazing use of your time at WDW.

 

[jenny105]

awesome you are going to be there next week, but you realize you also stink because you will be there next week and i wont.

I'm sure you'll be back soon enough. Any surprise trips in the works?

Coronado is really nice! I just wish it wasn't all the way over by AK. Although if I rented a car like you do, I might consider it. (Although the trip to MK would be a longggg one and driving to the MK is always a pain!!)
No matter how many times I've been on TSMM, my score is more like Lorraine's! I'm just not good at it! The ring toss game is always my downfall!
Wow, the hub looks crowded!!

I did like Coronado. I've never stayed at a mod and am torn which one to pick if I ever do. They're all so pretty!

When we stayed at AKL we had a car. Trust me driving to MK is still quicker than riding the bus. We took the bus to MNSSHP last year on our first night and Kris nixed riding the bus altogether after that to give you any indication of how it was!

I'm pretty good at TSM but my arm is pretty much dead for the rest of the day afterward.

How great that you managed to fit in two parks even after touring the dream and CSR! You really made amazing use of your time at WDW.

We tried to squeeze in as much as possible. Poor Lorraine. I don't think she had any idea what she was in store for when she signed up for this trip!

 

[jenny105]

The last morning we got a break – breakfast at 8am instead of 7:30! Woohoo for an extra 30 minutes of sleep! Breakfast was followed by yet another seminar. This one was all about social media which was kind of pointless because sites like youtube, facebook, and twitter are blocked at work. So…yeah.
Then it was time to receive our diplomas. Before we could start Tommy burst in with an announcement. Someone heard we were graduating and wanted to help us celebrate our accomplishment.

Mickey!

To be honest I knew they were going to do this because they did the same thing at my Disneyland AEP a couple years ago. But I was excited nonetheless. It’s a nice treat and a different kind of character meet and greet.

We were called up one at a time to get our diplomas and pose with Mickey.

We had the opportunity for a group shot and no one knew where to look because there were so many cameras! This was our usual breakfast table: Kat, Kristin, Patti, Rochelle, Ashley, Lorraine, me, and Olivia.

After graduation we were free to leave. Our flight wasn’t until 5:10 so we had a few hours until (un)Magical Express picked us up. A group of us decided to head over to Magic Kingdom. Kristin, Lorraine, and Patti wanted to shop and the rest of us (me, Olivia, Rochelle, Ashley, Matt, and Kat) wanted to go on some rides. Our first stop was Gaston’s Tavern to get a LeFou’s Brew. I thought it was tasty but it is on the sweet side. I don’t think I could drink more than one of them. I know we went on Pirates (my second time this trip!), Monster’s Laugh Floor, and Buzz Lightyear. Kat was seated next to me and she must have hit some magic target because she maxed out 15 seconds into the ride! We tried to go on Jungle Cruise too but it was down for refurb. Oh well, there’s always next time! A couple members of our group went off to get lunch and the rest of us headed back to the GF to wait for our buses.

Bye Magic Kingdom. Until next time.

We hung out in the lobby until our bus showed up. I think Lorraine, Patti, and I were the first to leave out of the group.

Bye Grand Floridian. I’ll probably never see you again unless you lower your rates!

We said our goodbyes and boarded ME. The ride was uneventful and we made it to the airport in plenty of time. We grabbed lunch at Macaroni Grill before going through security and boarding our plane. Bye Florida. See you In October…er Tuesday!

We got in on time and Kris was there to pick me up. We made it home in record time from the airport as we only live about 20 minutes away. And there you have it – my Disney AEP TR!

Tomorrow I embark on another vacation – cruising on Norwegian Breakaway to Port Canaveral, Great Stirrup Cay, and Nassau Bahamas. I’ve been on this itinerary before; I’m really more interested in seeing the ship but it’s Kris’s first real cruise. Last year we did a two nighter on the Disney Magic just to see how he would like it. He loved it so we booked a full length cruise for this year. I can’t believe we leave tomorrow. I’m so excited! Have a great week everyone!​

 

[klacey1]

Aww, graduation with Mickey! Awesome that you got some extra time in the MK before your flight!!
Have so much fun on your cruise!! Can't wait to see pictures!

 

[jenny105]

Aww, graduation with Mickey! Awesome that you got some extra time in the MK before your flight!!
Have so much fun on your cruise!! Can't wait to see pictures!

Thank you!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

hope you are having a good time on your cruise.

I'm sure you'll be back soon enough. Any surprise trips in the works?

well we will be back within the year...

 

[princess_momma]

DVC rentals are awesome aren't they? Who have you rented from? I need to find someone to rent from next year.

When I rented previously, I rented from a friend of Kristen (xoktenox). But now you know who you can rent from next year!

 

[princess_momma]

The characters in beach gear are so cute! But I especially love your dress from there! Where'd you get it? I am wanting to expand my travel dress collection.

I love the Y&B Clubs. They are just so gorgeous, I get so excited every time I get to set foot in one!

Gosh, the day I set foot on a Disney cruise I will be in heaven! They just seem so perfect to me!

If youve never sailed with DCL well then what are you waiting for??

I DON'T EVEN KNOW!!!

The adult pool/bar looks great. Like the next best thing from a swim up bar.

Palo & Remy look so fancy! I love to pretend I'm fancy! (Except I don't wear a bow tie. It's just the fanciest smiley, I think. )

The kids area looks great! Although it would be pretty hard to get Landon away from the hand washing thing. A couple of the places in WDW have those "air blade" hand dryers now and I basically had to drag him away from those. It's the little things apparently. I want a million pictures with all the Toy Story stuff.

Vibe looks awesome as well. This kid I went to high school with used to go on Disney cruises all the time and even though I never saw the pictures then of the teen clubs then, I was so jealous. They seem awesome. I hope all the teenagers who go there realize how freaking good they have it!!

I want to go to Pink so bad. I love champagne. I want to go to all the bars though, in case that's something you couldn't have guessed.

My heart is a little sad that the buses stink so badly at the GF. Maybe we'll just have to rent a car. Who knows? We shall see.

YAYYYYYYYYY for ToT!!!!!!! OMG I love that ride so much. I miss it already. I just want to ride it 13x a day...JK...way more than that. I'm in love!

We stopped by Gasparilla Grill and were BLOWN AWAY by it. Maybe that's because we were used to the quick service at Pop Century...but still. AMAZING.

So glad you graduated...again! Go you!

I'm sad we didn't get to meet up. Our plans changed so frequently this trip. I've never cancelled and booked ADR's so much in one trip. But on top of that...we barely even made it over to Epcot. I'll explain more in my TR...but I think it's just something about me & Epcot. Who knows? It just seems to never be in the cards.

 

[jenny105]

hope you are having a good time on your cruise.




well we will be back within the year...

We had a lot of fun, thanks!

When I rented previously, I rented from a friend of Kristen (xoktenox). But now you know who you can rent from next year!

Yay! I'm not sure what we're doing next year. I'd love to go to Disney again but I think Kris is hooked on cruising...

The characters in beach gear are so cute! But I especially love your dress from there! Where'd you get it? I am wanting to expand my travel dress collection.

I love the Y&B Clubs. They are just so gorgeous, I get so excited every time I get to set foot in one!

Gosh, the day I set foot on a Disney cruise I will be in heaven! They just seem so perfect to me!



I DON'T EVEN KNOW!!!

The adult pool/bar looks great. Like the next best thing from a swim up bar.

Palo & Remy look so fancy! I love to pretend I'm fancy! (Except I don't wear a bow tie. It's just the fanciest smiley, I think. )

The kids area looks great! Although it would be pretty hard to get Landon away from the hand washing thing. A couple of the places in WDW have those "air blade" hand dryers now and I basically had to drag him away from those. It's the little things apparently. I want a million pictures with all the Toy Story stuff.

Vibe looks awesome as well. This kid I went to high school with used to go on Disney cruises all the time and even though I never saw the pictures then of the teen clubs then, I was so jealous. They seem awesome. I hope all the teenagers who go there realize how freaking good they have it!!

I want to go to Pink so bad. I love champagne. I want to go to all the bars though, in case that's something you couldn't have guessed.

My heart is a little sad that the buses stink so badly at the GF. Maybe we'll just have to rent a car. Who knows? We shall see.

YAYYYYYYYYY for ToT!!!!!!! OMG I love that ride so much. I miss it already. I just want to ride it 13x a day...JK...way more than that. I'm in love!

We stopped by Gasparilla Grill and were BLOWN AWAY by it. Maybe that's because we were used to the quick service at Pop Century...but still. AMAZING.

So glad you graduated...again! Go you!

I'm sad we didn't get to meet up. Our plans changed so frequently this trip. I've never cancelled and booked ADR's so much in one trip. But on top of that...we barely even made it over to Epcot. I'll explain more in my TR...but I think it's just something about me & Epcot. Who knows? It just seems to never be in the cards.

Believe it or not I got that dress from K-Mart! They have so many cute things these days. So it's cute AND affordable! They also have it in an orange & yellow print.

Bummer we didn't get to meet up! We weren't even there that long. We got to Epcot around 1:30 and then left around 6:30. If we didn't get tickets for free (TA perk!) that shore excursion is definitely not worth it. We didn't even do any rides! We went to lunch at Biergarten, got a drink at Rose & Crown, saw British Revolution, and then went to see Boyz II Men. Then left. A fun but short day!

Off to check out your TR!

 

[UsBurchs]

I just wanted to say Thank you for this WONDERFUL report! I tried to PM you, but I'm too new to this particular message board and they won't let me. I have some questions regarding the AEP . . . I'm an agent too and going on my FIRST AEP next month! YIPPEEEE! So excited I can hardly stand it, but my travel-agent buddy that's going with me and I haven't received much information on what to expect. Your report gave us a MUCH better idea. Now we don't feel quite so lost. What a neat experience you had. I hope ours is just as wonderful! Thanks again for all the information. How FUN! -Anna