A Hop, NO Skip, and Many Mishaps to a Disney Dream!

[stephielela]

I can imagine it is hard to leave the ship. I think probably the best way to do it is to do WDW after rather than before, that way it's not so horrible. Like you said, at least you aren't going home!!

 

[jenseib]

Love Claire's "princess pose" on the stairs.

Hard to believe the cruise is over already! Heck...I thought (so did Bubba) that the 4 nighter was too short! ...couldn't imagine only 3

Lookin forward to the rest....

Yes, it was short. We did a lot and made the best of the time we had...but I want to go longer next time for sure...if I can work it out. My Mom mentioned today that we should all try for the 5 night one next March and go togehter again. I think it would be fun. We could do stuff on our own, yet still have dinner with them...and she even mentioned that Claire could stay with them at times too.

I can imagine it is hard to leave the ship. I think probably the best way to do it is to do WDW after rather than before, that way it's not so horrible. Like you said, at least you aren't going home!!

I am happy for doing it this way. At first we were going to go to Disne yfirst, but then the flights were so much cheaper to do the cruise portion first and fly home later, so we did that. I am so glad it worked that way.

 

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

This is such a great trip report..I just read it from beginning to now...We sailed the Wonder last year on a 3 day and it is never long enough.

We are going on the Dream in Sept and this was such a great vacation preview. DD is 11, though so no more princesses for her.

Such great pictures. Thanks!

 

[Caretames1]

I imagune it must be hard to say goodbye to the Dream. It seems so amazing. Thanks for giving us a very in depth look!
Kadence wants the ship w/ characters Claire bought! I told her she needs to save lots of money

I hear on tummy aches, Kadence will complain her tummy hurts. I just send to the bathroom and usually that takes care off it!

I can't wait to see all your POP pictures. Just over 2 months and I'll be there!

 

[jenseib]

This is such a great trip report..I just read it from beginning to now...We sailed the Wonder last year on a 3 day and it is never long enough.

We are going on the Dream in Sept and this was such a great vacation preview. DD is 11, though so no more princesses for her.

Such great pictures. Thanks!

Thanks so much for reading. You will love this ship. It is absolutely gorgeous. I wil lbe sad when Claire grows out of the princess phase. I'm gonna try to hold on to it for as long as I can and hopefully she will too!

I imagune it must be hard to say goodbye to the Dream. It seems so amazing. Thanks for giving us a very in depth look!
Kadence wants the ship w/ characters Claire bought! I told her she needs to save lots of money

I hear on tummy aches, Kadence will complain her tummy hurts. I just send to the bathroom and usually that takes care off it!

I can't wait to see all your POP pictures. Just over 2 months and I'll be there!

It was hard leaving, but at least we weren't going home yet.
I knew you would understand about the tummy trouble and bathroom situation!~
I also knew Kadence would love the stuffed ship.
I won't be stayin at pop on this next trip, but it is scheduled as one of the resorts we are touring and lunch is there as well, so I'll get a little taste of it again!

 

[hardingk]

Thanks so much for reading. You will love this ship. It is absolutely gorgeous. I wil lbe sad when Claire grows out of the princess phase. I'm gonna try to hold on to it for as long as I can and hopefully she will too!



It was hard leaving, but at least we weren't going home yet.
I knew you would understand about the tummy trouble and bathroom situation!~
I also knew Kadence would love the stuffed ship.
I won't be stayin at pop on this next trip, but it is scheduled as one of the resorts we are touring and lunch is there as well, so I'll get a little taste of it again!

Thanks for another great update! I can't wait to go!! We are doing the same, cruise first and then WDW! I think it makes it easier to get off the ship!!

BTW, forgot to tell you....we were actually at WDW the same time, kind of! We were at VB the weekend before you left and then at AKV from Monday - Saturday (day before you got to POP!). That Thursday that you boarded the ship, we got stuck in the torentail (SP?) rain! We spent the morning & early afternoon in our room at Kidani because it was just raining so hard. We had reservations at CRT at 4PM and couldn't cancel!! So we treked over to MK in the pouring rain and went straight to CRT and checked in. We could hear it thundering and the rain (the windows were closed off bc of construction) coming down, it was so hard! So after we ate, we figured we were already there and wet from going to and from the bus, and there were no lines for anything....so we spent the evening in MK going from ride to ride in our ponchos!! It was raining so hard, that there had to be at least an inch of water on the ground bc the water couldn't run off fast enough, that we were sloshing around. When we got back to the room, we gave dd a bath to warm her up bc it was so damp out and she was soaked. The next morning we had to go out and buy her new sneakers bc hers weren't drying!!

 

[Kathy Jetson]

I was just thinking of you this morning and wondered if you made it back. How was your trip? Are you going to do a TR?

I can't wait for the next trip. It wil lbe so different, and fun in a whole new way. I just started writing up the next day, but I am sleepy, so I might have to take a pre-bedtime nap. LOL!

The trip was fun but not enough Disney for me. I won't be doing a tr most of our trip was as Universal this time. I'll just post my pictures on the picture threads. Our next trip will be next June and be all Disney World I can't wait.

 

[dizneeat]

It's so sad to see you leave! I remember that last breakfast well, and the speed they get you through it!
But at least you got to go to Disney! We love POP, can't wait to see your photos from there!

See you soon - 7 weeks from today!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Page 81 and you are finally at WDW. I think it would be tough leaving the ship, but knowing you are going to WDW must make it a little easier.

 

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

It's so sad to see you leave! I remember that last breakfast well, and the speed they get you through it!
But at least you got to go to Disney! We love POP, can't wait to see your photos from there!

See you soon - 7 weeks from today!

Looks like a great trip.

 

[jenseib]

Thanks for another great update! I can't wait to go!! We are doing the same, cruise first and then WDW! I think it makes it easier to get off the ship!!

BTW, forgot to tell you....we were actually at WDW the same time, kind of! We were at VB the weekend before you left and then at AKV from Monday - Saturday (day before you got to POP!). That Thursday that you boarded the ship, we got stuck in the torentail (SP?) rain! We spent the morning & early afternoon in our room at Kidani because it was just raining so hard. We had reservations at CRT at 4PM and couldn't cancel!! So we treked over to MK in the pouring rain and went straight to CRT and checked in. We could hear it thundering and the rain (the windows were closed off bc of construction) coming down, it was so hard! So after we ate, we figured we were already there and wet from going to and from the bus, and there were no lines for anything....so we spent the evening in MK going from ride to ride in our ponchos!! It was raining so hard, that there had to be at least an inch of water on the ground bc the water couldn't run off fast enough, that we were sloshing around. When we got back to the room, we gave dd a bath to warm her up bc it was so damp out and she was soaked. The next morning we had to go out and buy her new sneakers bc hers weren't drying!!

That rain was awful. At least you got out a bit and braved it. I know what you mean about CRT. We ate there too, and it was so dark and you had no clue what was going on outside. But luckily our day there was nice!

The trip was fun but not enough Disney for me. I won't be doing a tr most of our trip was as Universal this time. I'll just post my pictures on the picture threads. Our next trip will be next June and be all Disney World I can't wait.

Did you see Harry Potter then? I am hoping to squeeze that in next year.

It's so sad to see you leave! I remember that last breakfast well, and the speed they get you through it!
But at least you got to go to Disney! We love POP, can't wait to see your photos from there!

See you soon - 7 weeks from today!

Yay for 7 weeks. It's so close, yet so far. We have so much to do here before that time. The good thing is that I don't have to make too many plans for this trip, so I won't have to over think things...well most things.

Page 81 and you are finally at WDW. I think it would be tough leaving the ship, but knowing you are going to WDW must make it a little easier.

It's tough, but I was excited for the day too. It was an EMH night at Mk, so I had a long day planned.

Looks like a great trip.

 

[Stefy]

Great updates, has been so much fun reading along and has defo got me extra extra excited for our very first cruise in September.

Love the photos from the last show, the Princess costumes look really great

Animators Palate looks like a really cool restaurant, really good theming

I didn't know that if you used a card with a magnetic strip it would still act as a room key (inside), will have to try that out. Thanks for the tip

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Oh Jen, how bittersweet that must have been to leave the ship...
So glad you all had such a wonderful trip with such great memories! All of us - your faithful readers - have been living your cruise vicariously thru you!
Now we're looking forward to "our" stay at POP...

 

[jenseib]

Great updates, has been so much fun reading along and has defo got me extra extra excited for our very first cruise in September.

Love the photos from the last show, the Princess costumes look really great

Animators Palate looks like a really cool restaurant, really good theming

I didn't know that if you used a card with a magnetic strip it would still act as a room key (inside), will have to try that out. Thanks for the tip

I elarned about using any card on Dis. I would just used one that has nothing on it, if you can....just in case.

Oh Jen, how bittersweet that must have been to leave the ship...
So glad you all had such a wonderful trip with such great memories! All of us - your faithful readers - have been living your cruise vicariously thru you!
Now we're looking forward to "our" stay at POP...

LOL! My...I mean "our"... Pop stay is short though.

 

[jenseib]

We pulled into the parking lot and I went in to check in.

Claire and Mom also went in with me, and Dad stayed in the van.

The line wasn’t long. I pretty much walked right up and checked in. I had requested 1st floor, 50’s poolside. I asked the girl if that is what I got and she said no, it was in the 80’s. I said, No thanks, that’s the last place I would want to stay, can you move us. So she looked and looked and looked. She really seemed clueless. I told her if I had to, we could wait for a room. It didn’t need to be ready that exact moment. She said she found 1…..in the 50’s I asked, and she said yes. And I said, ground floor, poolside, and again she said yes. She circled the area on the Map. It looked good. Sure, that will work. So Claire, Mom and I went to check out the room.

We kept walking and walking…it was quite a ways and when we got to the jukebox, I turned right and started looking for the number. That’s the area she circled. Soon we were out of pool range…and then to the end of the row and our number wasn’t even close to these????? So we headed back to the juke box and realized it was down the hallway behind it. Now this is NOT poolside in any way shape or form! We walked and walked…. all the way to the end. We were the 2nd to the last room, right by the parking lot. How far could I possibly get from the pool? Mom told me not to worry about it as we were only staying 1 night here. But it really irked me a lot. I was half tempted to go wring that CM’s neck…and then change it. She obviously was misinformed…..by her own mind! LOL!
I then went to go get Dad. I noticed the 50’s pool was closed , so I guess being poolside wouldn’t matter anyays.
I stopped and got 2 new refillable mugs on the way and filled them up. I got a pink lid for Claire and a turquoise blue for myself.
Dad was sitting patiently waiting. We drove over to the 50’s parking lot and parked near our room. And then hauled all the bags in. We have way too much stuff! LOL!

I quickly shot some pictures of the room, so I wouldn’t forget to later.

On the way to Pop, we had discussed a bit on what we were going to do. Mom and Dad were going to AK, and then meeting us later at MK for dinner. Claire did not have a hopper, but I did. I had old tickets from way back when hoppers were included and they had no expiration date. I debated on adding the hopper option to Claire’s ticket and going to AK too. But I knew we would probably only use the hopper for that 1 day only, and I was having a hard time justifying the cost to add it. I left the decision up to Claire.

After we got settled in, Mom and Dad took off for AK. I kind of forgot that I would have to explain the bus system to them, and really didn’t. I just told them to find the bus stop for AK and go, and when they came to Mk, there would be a bus stop for that at AK.
Claire wanted to swim, as it was getting very hot already.
I told her we could, but only for a short while and she was fine with that. We walked over to the hippy dippy pool for the swim, since the 50’s was closed.
She got a life jacket on and went in. I sat on a lounger a little way back under the shade and called Skip and talked to him a bit, and then wrote a bit in the journal.
I had a family come and sit directly in front of my, blocking my view of Claire. There were empty chairs all over the place, but they decided in front of me was best I guess. And they even moved one chair to make it even harder for me to see her. I moved then, so I could see her.

I took a few shots from the area too.

After about 20 minutes of swimming, I told Claire it was time to get out, so she did a few more swims and splashes and got out.
We ran into these cute little buggers. They were up by the smoking section, ironically. I guess Momma Duck needed a little smoke break.

We headed back to the room and I called Mom and Dad to be sure they made it. They did. They were looking for a spot to eat and said the park was very busy.

I gave the choice to Claire and she decided on MK. I knew it would be busy there too, but we would just make the best of it.

While I got her changed I quickly plugged my phone in and let it charge for an extra 5 minutes. I had been using it a lot at the pool and it had already lost a lot of the precious charge I would need to get through the day. Once she was changed we headed out to the bus stop and made our way to MK. There were a group of young adults going to. They had just arrived as well and they were fun. The one guy was familiar with DL, but never been to WDW and they were telling him all about it. They also had a Doug plush with them and were taking pictures with it through out the trip. I Love it when people do it. I always say I will someday, (with Claires lovey Penelope) but have yet to do so.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Lots of great updates Jen!

I too was sad to leave "my ship" behind. Three nights is too short and it was a good thing we went to WDW after too!!

I at your dad telling you every detail of his days!! My mom does stuff like that too, minus the bathroom breaks!

I can't believe your steward neglected to pull the bunk bed down!! He really wasn't at all on the ball, was he?

Cute pillowcase and tote!!!

I love the BBB invitation!! That is cool! Wish I would have thought of that!

 

[annmarieda]

Wow, last morning on the ship must have been hard... but I think it is awesome that you still had a place (not home) to go to!!! And Pop!!! Yay!

I can't believe the cm didnt quite now what she was talking about. I wonder why some of them have to be that way while others are so good. In September when we checked into Pop, we were first assigned a room in the 90's near the parking lot. Hmm... while that might have been a good location if were were using the parking lot... it was not what we wanted. I asked for what I wanted (had requested) and POOF there it was. Why don't they just put us where we request so that we dont' have to hassle with it? I was at least lucky in that the cm did assign me the location I was wanting. I have had the cm who is lacking at check in too... and it isn't fun.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I was several updates behind but am all caught up now. Trouble is, I don't remember everything I wanted to comment on. Let's see what I do remember.

Glad that Claire got to see her Prince Charming (server) once last time. I do believe she did have a little crush on him.

It sounds like getting a porter was a good thing. I would have had no clue what to tip him but it does sound like he did a good job and was quite helpful.

I'm happy that your dad had a good time while you guys were on the ship.

Hum....what else?

I wonder how long the castmember who checked you into Pop had been working at Pop. She certainly didn't sound familiar with the resort at all.

Looking forward to hearing about your visit to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Beth D]

Day 5 ~ April 3rd, 2011, Sunday


About halfway there, Claire needed a potty break, so we found a gas station and stopped. Word of warning, there are NOT many places to stop along the way, so be sure to go before you make the trip. Claire’s tummy was hurting which means she need to go potty or at least give it a try and then she usually feels better, and sure enough, she was back to he perky self as soon as she got back in the Van.
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Don'tcha just love how kids let you know when they gotta go! DS waits until the absolute last minute before he pees down the leg and then its the mad dash to find someplace! I'm glad you found something, cause that drive from Cocoa/Canaveral to Orlando is desolate!

I also love the photo with Jack! Do you think DH would mind too much if I got one without DS or DH in it, just me and the Captain??

 

[stephielela]

That is super frustrating about the Pop CM. I am debating about whether or not to put in a request this time, since the systems changed. I really want the same room as last time. It was first floor, building 9 in the 80's and the end closest to Everything Pop/bus stops, so everything was just a couple minutes walk. Plus it was not a connecting room. I guess it can't hurt to put in the request (and look like an OCD lunatic) and then just see how it all shakes out!