A week on the Disney Dream! B2B

[ohsoblessed]

Thanks so much for letting us enjoy your wonder trip. Your pictures are amazing.

Can you tell me how far the walk is on Castaway Cay to the family beach? Can you ride a tram to that area?

 

[LuvEeyore]

I hope you had or are having fun!! I hope you are going to do a trip report on the western carribean cruise.
Lee

 

[Goldeelox9]

September 7, 2011 - Day 9

Today was our Sea day. I love Sea Days.

We slept in today. We had no where to be until 10:30am. We had a Palo reservations.

We got a great table by the window. It was so great looking out over the Ocean!

Of course Annie Marie was our server again. We chatted a good bit. She is truly the best CM I have ever had on a Disney Cruise.

In Palo instead of menus for brunch they have the dishes prepared for you to look at. I really like that. It's nicer then wondering what something is going to look like.

The brunch buffet is set up in the private dining room. I was so scared I was going to drop something on this $20,000.00 carpet!

Desert....The Desert Buffet is amazing. I love all of the little choices!

We shared a little pizza.

Palo is so nice on the Dream. It really does blow Palo of the Magic and Wonder out of the water. It is so elegant.

I got the Chicken Parm. I don't usually like Chicken and "red" sauce, but this is something everyone should get. It is so good!

I only ate one Strawberry and the little cup of mouse. After all of that great lunch I was full the rest of the day!

It was sad to say good bye to Annie Marie. I wish her and her family well!

When we were done lunch we peaked into Remy. We had canceled out Remy reservations. I think next time we will try it.

After lunch we went up to check out the miniature golf. I don't have any pictures though. Weird!

We headed down to our room and saw a sad sad site............

I was not ready to leave!!!

 

[Goldeelox9]

September 7, 2011 - Day 9, Part 2


We started packing. I hate packing. We packed everything up and them took a walk all around the upper deck. We didn't want to leave.

We went to our last dinner. We were not very hungry, but we wanted to see our servers. We had Dinner in the Royal Palace.

I wish I would have had a purse big enough to stuff this baby in. LOL I kid I kid, but it would have been nice if it was for sale in the store.

We talked about how much we enjoyed our cruise. How different it was without the kids. How much we missed them. How relaxing it was not to have to see shows or meet characters. LOL It was a great way to have the best of both worlds.

ick...cold naked shrimp! I am from Maryland. We like our shrimp steamed with old bay seasoning.

I don't remember what all of these was. LOL Guess I shouldn't wait so long to write these trip reports.

Pete was playing with the camera....LOL

Again I am not sure what any of these deserts are. Sorry.

This mural is out side the restaurant. If you look at the mermaid in the middle her "Shells" look like hands!

Since we were all packed we decided to head down to the bars.

We went to the Skyline Bar for a while. They had the best menus! They lit up!

It was always pretty empty in here. I liked it. It was dark and romantic.

We stopped in Evolutions, but they did not have a specialized drink menu, so we didn't hang around.

On our way to Pink I had to use the bathroom. This was the coolest bathroom on the ship. It was round. Well the stall was round. The ceiling was a mirror which was odd.

We stopped by this little lounge area to listen to the people singing. They stopped soon as we sat down!

 

[Goldeelox9]

September 7, 2011 - Day 9, Part 3

We headed to Pink! It is sooo cute! I love it. It is so Pink...So girly!

After being thrown into the Girl Bar, Pete needed a beer! LOL We went to 687. It is so nice in here. We enjoyed it. We snuggled up on of the the sofa's and talked about never wanting to leave. LOL

I spun the wheel but did not win free beer.

Disney brews a special beer called 687. Pete enjoyed it.

It was still pretty empty. I guess every one else was still packing. So glad we had packed earlier.

We sat together for a good long while. Then decided it was time to go. We had to get some sleep. I couldn't stop yawning.

On the way out they were setting up a buffet of snack type bar foods. We didn't have any, but I snapped a picture for the trip report!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Loved the pictures of the Palo Busnch!! Looks so yummy! Cant wait to hear about your Western Carribean cruise. Any plans for the Fantasy?

 

[Goldeelox9]

Thanks so much for letting us enjoy your wonder trip. Your pictures are amazing.

Can you tell me how far the walk is on Castaway Cay to the family beach? Can you ride a tram to that area?

The walk to the tram is short, maybe 1/6th of a mile. The Tram takes you to two stops on the family beach!

Loved the pictures of the Palo Busnch!! Looks so yummy! Cant wait to hear about your Western Carribean cruise. Any plans for the Fantasy?

Here is my Western Caribbean Report from last January, 2011: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2734759

No Fantasy Cruises planned anytime soon. BUT...We are going on the Wonder to Hawaii in October. I need to start the PTR soon as I finish the (not yet started) TR from January 2012 at the Boardwalk!

 

[Goldeelox9]

September 8, 2011 - Day 10

We woke up and finished last minute packing. Pete and I headed to breakfast in the Royal Palace. We wanted to say goodbye to our serving team. Our great assistant server made Pete and I Bracelets out of beads. We did give him a NICE tip. He was great.

It took no time at all to get through customs. We were on the DCL bus heading to the Wilderness Lodge.

It was excited. We were so excited to be staying at the Wilderness Lodge. I could not wait.

It took about an hour to get to the hotel. We pulled up and WOW it is impressive!

We headed to the front desk and Checked in. Surprise our room was ready! That was a nice surprise.

We went right to the Villas to see our room.

We had a room on the 1st floor and the Hallway was freezing cold. So far I was impressed. Good AC, pretty Hotel....we were excited. THEN we opened the door and ........

NOT IMPRESSED!!!! We were not very impressed with our room. It was under decorated, it was dated and DUSTY. Ugh. Then we laid on the bed and it was totally the WORST bed I have ever laid on.

I called the front desk. I wanted a new room. They stated they were sending someone to check out the bed.

I went to the laundry room and put a load of dirty clothes in to wash.

It took a while for someone to come and she stated the bed was horrible. They were going to change out the mattress.

Pete and I went for a walk.

It's beautiful right? I loved the resort. I thought it was so lovely and I really felt like I was on vacation in a lodge. It was amazing! I wish I liked the room. I really wanted to!

We went to Roaring Forks to get our refillable mugs that were included with the dining plan.

Then we headed out to check out the main pool. Again...LOVED IT!

We sat down to wait for the Geyser to erupt.

It stopped before we got my picture. HAHA!

 

[Goldeelox9]

September 8, 2011 - Day 10 - Part 2

I ran back and put the clothes in the Dryer. It was time for our lunch reservation at Whispering Canyon.

We loved the Lobby! I can't wait for Pete to see the Wilderness Lodge at Christmas. I was lucky and got to see it with two of my favorite people back in 2008.

flashback.....

Resume Trip Report....

We checked into lunch. It was empty in here.

We placed our order. Bottomless Milkshake!

We shared a skillet of WAY too much food for only 2 people!

Look how much the dining plan saved us....this was the Lunch bill!

After Lunch I headed to the front desk. I had a client checking into the Honeymoon Suite for her Honeymoon. A very snarly CM agreed to show me the room.

Now like I told her "don't waste the money on this room"! It is smaller and more expensive then a 1 bedroom Villa. The CM showing me around was short and not friendly.

Pete and I headed back to our room. I went to put a 2nd load of laundry in and Pete laid on the worlds most uncomfortable bed to tap a nap.

I went out on the Patio to call my Dad. Cell reception was crappy in our room. Well outside there was MOLD growing all over the patio. YUK!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Small, not very pretty room, uncomfortable bed...You were both being nice. Now the mold growing on the baclony...I would have demanded another room...mold triggers my asthma!! Can wait to hear what you did!

 

[Goldeelox9]

September 8, 2011 - Day 10 - Part 2

Pete woke up and we heeded to the store to look around. The Wilderness Lodge had a GREAT store with lots of Hotel Specific items.

Look at this little guy hanging around outside.

I went to jump in the shower. We had dinner reservations at Narcoossee's.

Well this is the exact time that housekeeping came to replace the mattress. W

We told them that they were going to have to come back later. I was neeked. So the bathroom had a bit of mold and smelled musty. The wood panels in the doors were all nasty and dusty. Ick. Sooo not liking this place.

I really think the problem was staying at the Animal Kingdom and then being on the Disney Dream for a week. We were spoiled and the Wilderness Lodge was not standing up to our standards.

So we got dressed and headed to the front desk to complain some more.

We grabbed a cab to the Grand Floridian. We took too log getting ready and didn't have time to do the bus shuffle!

We headed to Narcoossee's. I love the Grand Floridian. It is so pretty. I am so looking forward to Disney's DVC opening here.

We checked in.

Then we went out on the porch to check out the view.

The called us to our seat and it was the same exact table that we sat at during out honeymoon.

Mine was better!!!

Again look what we saved using the dining plan.

After dinner we got seats on the benches at the boat dock. Perfect fireworks viewing location!

The Electric Water Parade came by first.

Wishes is my FAVORITE part of Disney World! I was so excited to be able to see it. Wishes was not showing the following night because it was the Night of Joy. I was hopping to PArk Hop over to the Magic Kingdom after Hollywood Studios, but this was almost as good!

We took a boat ride to the Magic Kingdom, then a boat to the Wilderness Lodge. We love the boats at Disney!

We changed into our swim suits and hit the pool as soon as we got back. The pool was s nice. I love the bubbles!

After swimming Pete and I were sleepy. We decided to head to bed since I wanted to make it to Hollywood Studios and Epcot the next day!!

Oh and in case you were wondering, the new Mattress still stunk! It was not comfy at all!!!

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

Mold, mildew, musty smells, dusty, dingy and bad mattress...

Are you sure you're at a Disney resort and not at a Super 8???

Totally unacceptable for Disney standards...

 

[Goldeelox9]

Nancy I know and a DVC resort, that I pay dues to maintain, none the less!!! I was NOT happy

....AND I forgot to mention the AC hardly worked and we were soooo hot. We proped the door open to try to get some of the FROZEN air from the hallway into our room.

 

[engle]

Loving your trip report. You do take beautiful pictures!! I had the same feeling about Wilderness Lodge...meh.

 

[Disney Family Lee's]

I am glad you are telling us about your trip!!
The pic's are great!!
I thought for our next trip to DW we would look into renting points to stay at a DVC Resort. This will be our firt time doing this but i just found out that you can do this and it looks like a way to save money and be a great way to stay at some of the Delux Resorts. We have only stayed at the Moderate Resorts, we thought we would like to stay at the Wilderness Lodge but maybe not?
We would also like to stay at Animal Kingdom or the Beach Club. Have you stayed at the Beach Club? The Pool sounds Great!!

 

[Goldeelox9]

Loving your trip report. You do take beautiful pictures!! I had the same feeling about Wilderness Lodge...meh.

I am glad it is just not me!!! LOL

I am glad you are telling us about your trip!!
The pic's are great!!
I thought for our next trip to DW we would look into renting points to stay at a DVC Resort. This will be our firt time doing this but i just found out that you can do this and it looks like a way to save money and be a great way to stay at some of the Deluxe Resorts. We have only stayed at the Moderate Resorts, we thought we would like to stay at the Wilderness Lodge but maybe not?
We would also like to stay at Animal Kingdom or the Beach Club. Have you stayed at the Beach Club? The Pool sounds Great!!

Thanks! Be careful to find a good renter. I have had a good renting experience, but I have had friends have a nightmare!

I love the Animal Kingdon Lodge. We are thinking about adding on points here. The Beach Club is nice, but the DVC rooms are not in ideal locations and seem far from the Pool and stuff.

As a travel agent I have been trying to stay at every resort. I have stayed at every Value and 3 out of 4 Moderates as well as five Deluxes. My favorite resorts are the Pop Century and BLT .... LOL

 

[jtlover]

Enjoyed your trip report we are on dream for the first time in September

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

Nancy I know and a DVC resort, that I pay dues to maintain, none the less!!! I was NOT happy

....AND I forgot to mention the AC hardly worked and we were soooo hot. We proped the door open to try to get some of the FROZEN air from the hallway into our room.

Well at least you knew where your AC air was going ~ into the HALLWAY!!!

Sorry, not funny... Especially for a DVC room...

 

[Goldeelox9]

September 9, 2011 - Day 11

Today we decided we were going to use one of our park tickets. We bought 10 Day non-expiration tickets back before our January 2011 trip. We decided that since we had added the Park Hoppers (we never get park hoppers) we would start at Hollywood Studios to ride Tower of Terror then head to Epcot for a romantic afternoon touring the world showcase.

As soon as we opened the door to our hot hot room we were met with the coldest air ever. I was so disappointed in the Wilderness Lodge.

We headed to the front desk to complain again and to upgrade our park tickets.

I complained about the air and they said they would send someone. At this point I didn't really care I was pretty done with the room in general!

We had decided to pay the $58 a ticket to add on the Water Parks. Since we had 10 day non-expiration tickets for $58 we could add 10 admissions to the Waterparks that never expire. Funny thing though....Pete has never been to one of Disney's water parks. But we knew that even if we visit each of the 2 water parks sometime in our lives we will get our monies worth.

It was STEAMING hot out. It was September and we are used to touring Disney in January. It was very uncomfortable at 9am.

We got a big to Hollywood Studios. It stopped by the Wilderness Lodge on the way.

We started our weird (for us) Disney day way past rope drop! Sooo odd. We arrived at the park around 11am. ELEVEN A.M. The horror!

We stopped for a quick Hat Picture. Isn't Pete's shirt great!

I love the street performers at Hollywood Studios!

We knew we wanted to ride the Tower of Terror, but I was so hot. I needed to cool off.

I decided the Great Movie ride would be fun. Pete swears he had never been on this ride before. He lies, I know he has. LOL

There was no line, we walked right on.

When we got off we checked out some of the Hand Prints.

My main mouse!

Of course Pete wanted to check out the pins. I want this picture!!! I love it so much!

I wanted to see the American Idol show, but we had just missed a show and didn't want to wait a few hours for the next one. We had lunch reservations in Epcot. We headed towards the Tower of Terror.

By the time we got there my foot was hurting bad. I have a pretty bad heel spur and while on the cruise and walking funny because of it I ended up hurting my knee. UGH...I wish I could say I was all better now, but after returning from Disney last week I just want to cut my foot off! HA!

I LOVE this ride. It's my favorite!

The line was only about 10 minutes. What they say about September crowds are great, BUT these low crowds are not worth the 110% humidity or the heat.

See those sunglasses....I Love Them. I had broken the pair I got in January so when we visited Down Town Disney 10 days ago before the cruise Pete bought me another pair!

What a great ride!!! We decided to head to Epcot via the great boat!

 

[Goldeelox9]

September 9, 2011 - Day 11 - Part two

I love traveling by Disney Boat. They are lie an extension of the theme parks. What a fun job. Why are all of the fun jobs in FL.

While enjoying the boat ride my foot was achy and I was so hot. I needed to get out of the heat. We had already missed our ADR's at Epcot. I swear I am never going to get to eat at Chef's de France! This is the 2nd time I have tried.

I suggested we get off at the boardwalk and try the Big River Grill. I had never been there, but I wanted to explore the Boardwalk a bit.

We love the Boardwalk. Look at that view!

We decided that the Boardwalk would be where we were staying in January (look at that preview of TR's to come).

There was no wait at Big River. We walked right in.

Since we were on the dining plan we got appetizers and desert with our meal. We had skipped breakfast so we were starving.

I was no blown away by the food, but it was decent.

This beer soup was NOT Le Celliar, not even close. Blah. I couldn't eat it.

Again....Look at the savings...

I could look at the resorts in Disney for days!

Since we were really thinking about staying at the boardwalk we went into the DVC office and chatted with the CM's there. They were great and knew out DVC guy Amil. He is the best!

After hanging with the DVC people for a while we decided to go back to the hotel and swim since it was sooooo hot! Like 100 degrees hot.

Good bye Boardwalk...Until January!

We took a cab back to the boardwalk. I was too hot and in pain to do the bus shuffle!

Look at this little guy...I almost stepped on him on the way back to our room.

The squirrel knew I almost killed the frog so he was giving me dirty looks.