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

[nenner1]

The Intro




Hey gang!

Can you believe its that time again? Thats right, another adventure, fun and picture filled Trip Report from yours truly! I definitely think you will like this one- we had a totally amazing cruise and learned a lot of things about the Fantasy! We also had some new experiences I have not read about much on the Disboards, so I hope we will open up some new eyes to great places to stay and fun things to do!


This Trip Report/Journal/Scrapbook/Review will chronicle our 10 night adventure at Walt Disney World and on the Disney Fantasy to the Eastern Caribbean in September, 2012. I will also link up to our Pre-Pre-cruise weekend at Fort Wilderness Campground for those of you who would like to read about that. It is quite different than the pampering on the cruise ship, but I promise- entertaining nonetheless.

So who are you wild and crazy people you ask? I fancy myself as rather infamous on this board after 6 or so TRs but if you are just discovering us, well, here we are!




Yes, this is a photo from the current trip, and yes, that is indeed a Magical Moment certificate! (If you are intrigued and want to know more, I promise you wont have to wait long!)


Anyway the guy on the left with the bum knee is my husband Ron (aka livingis2me here on the Dis.) He fractured his knee the Monday evening before we left when a fellow football coach ran into him. It made all of the walking at WDW a little tough and kept him off a surfboard at Cocoa Beach, but luckily didnt impact the trip too much! Next is me, Jen. On the other side of me is Sarah. Just turned four years old and already going on her fifth cruise! Next to her is Brendan, who turns 13 in a couple of weeks. An official teenager. Yikes. And on the far right is Savannah, who is 11 going on 25.


So now that you know who we are, I expect youd like to know what you are going to reading about us doing and where. We started off spending one day and evening in Walt Disney World, visiting Downtown Disney and of course, the Magic Kingdom. We stayed one night there at Old Key West before moving on to Cocoa Beach/Port Canaveral where we spent two nights at the Ron Jon Cape Caribe Resort. From there, we moved on to seven luxurious nights aboard the beautiful Disney Fantasy from September 22nd through the 29th to the Eastern Caribbean. We enjoyed fun excursions in our ports of call as well, including fun sailboat charter aboard the Random Wind in St. Maarten and a jaunt over to the beautiful Magens Bay beach in St. Thomas.

We had a delightful and very active meet thread here on the Dis, and had some fantastic group activities with our cruise mates that I will be sharing with you, including a pre-cruise meet at Fishlips, a Dis Meet onboard with group photo (which you see here), Fish Extenders, a Stateroom Tour visiting a variety of different categories of rooms, including the AMAZING Walt Disney Suite, and also a Private Mixology class where they made us our own special drink named after our cruise: From Fantasyland to the Fantasy!



And did I mention the pictures? I have about 10,000 that I took on this vacation ( yep folks, those zeros are right. Ten THOUSAND. ) I promise to restrain myself and only post about 9,999 of them.

Sounds good, right? Could this cruise have been *SO* good that it convinced my husband to love DCL again after cheating on Disney with the Allure of the Seas? Is that even possible?

I hope you'll join us! Lets get this party started, shall we?

Here are the links to direct segments for those who prefer to read along that way&my TRs tend to get a lot of chatter in between posts of actual content.

Introduction <---- You are HERE

Pre-Cruise WDW

To Conch Flats...and Beyond!
To Conch Flats...and Beyond! (Part 2)
If it looks like Margaritaville and sounds like Margaritaville, it must be Old Key West!
If it looks like Margaritaville...(Part 2)
If it looks like Margaritaville...(Part 3)
Thar She Blows!
The First Family (Part 1)
The First Family (Part 2)
Stuck In The Middle- I Mean, In Space Mountain-With You (Part 1)
Stuck In The Middle- I Mean, In Space Mountain-With You (Part 2)
Cover Girls (and Boys!)
We're Late! We're Late! We're Late for a Very Important Fastpass!
Adventures in the New Land
The Signstormer

Pre-Cruise Port Canaveral/Cocoa Beach

____ Miles To Ron Jon (Part 1)
____ Miles To Ron Jon (Part 2)
____ Miles To Ron Jon (Part 3)
____ Miles To Ron Jon (Part 4)
____ Miles To Ron Jon (Part 5)
You Can Get In, But You Can't Get Out!
You Can Get In, But You Can't Get Out! (Part 2)
You Can Get In, But You Can't Get Out! (Part 3)
You Can Get In, But You Can't Get Out! (Part 4)
A Float By (Part 1)
A Float By (Part 2)
A Float By (Part 3- Lunch at Ron Jon)
A Float By (Part 4- the Carnival Dream floats by!)
Beating The Storm & Float-By 2
Beating The Storm & Float-By 3

Happy to have you onboard with us, and I'll see ya real soon with more!

Jen

[Fastpaks]

1ST! I have always wanted in first... too bad I have to wait for another 2 years. so I will live through you all!

[livingis2me]

Trip Report time already? Awesome!!! By the way you know I love DCL, I just like variety. So does this ship beat out the Allure of the Seas for me? Hmm... I guess we'll see... Or should I just spill the beans now...

Ron

[pinkxray]

I can't wait to hear about your trip on the Fantasy. I loved your previous reports and can't wait to hear how the Fantasy compares to the Allure. We were on the Oasis Sept. 22-29 due to DH's request to try RCL and it was great. I really want to try the Fantasy but it's going to be tough to get DH and DD on board after the Oasis which they both loved. I know it's silly but I missed the Disney touches around the ship.

[jedijill]

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?

Jill in CO

[JKSWonder]

Yay Jen! So happy to see another report from you. We just did the Eastern Fantasy August 25, 2012, so it will be really interesting for me to read your impressions.

[KristiMc]

I'm in - I love reading your trip reports.

[jamelynn24]

Ohhh can't wait!!! Just booked our FIRST DCL today...Eastern Caribbean on the Fantasy! This will totally help me know what to expect next year!!!

[cleophus12]

We are taking this trip in May, so I am especially anxious to hear about your shore excursions.

[ohboyx3]

Can't wait to read more!!

[Misskitty3]

Love your trio reports! Can't wait to see all 9,999 photos!

[Cheryl726]

Great intro! Looking forward to reading about your trip!

[podsnel]

You don't waste any time at all, do you?! Yippeeee! Can't wait to hear all about it!

[meplus3]

I'm subbing! Love your title!

[tinkerbelltwins]

I'm in too! Thanks for guiding me over here from Facebook! Can't wait to read all about your Fantasyastic trip!

Beth