Cruisin into Spring Training-VWL & 4 Nt Dream 3/22-28/13 COMPLETE! 8/11

Looked like a great morning with the bike ride and the ponies and horses !!Can't wait till May 5th when I will be Cruisin'!!!
 
Whew, I'm caught up again. Even though we live in the country I think the VWL look like they'd be a fun place to stay. The resort and grounds are beautiful.

Love the cruise shirts even if they have Yankee's on them, (sorry A's fan here so I have to say that).:goodvibes
 
Glad you enjoyed your BOG dinner, too bad Timmy was soo tired to go on any rides after.

Nice pics on the bike ride.

Yay! :yay: You are about to leave for the Cruise! Can't wait, Love the shirts!
 
What an awesome morning. Loved the pix tour of the lovely WL.

Tyler says he wants to ride Tower of Terror...we'll see. He's a ride chicken like his mom. His brother Matthew did point out that sometimes we drive 65 mph on the highway...:moped:

Can't wait for the cruise portion.
 


That yellow cookie is Minnie's shoe. Chloe has the slippers. ;)

Thank you! I have always wondered what that was- we seriously had no idea. The closest I could come was the Jetsons car/space ship. :rotfl: Pretty sure they are NOT Disney. :rotfl2:

I think that cookie is Minnie's shoe.

Wow! You people are SMART!! I guess I have been living under a rock for waaaay to long- time to come out! :thumbsup2

that whole resort is so relaxing. Katie ended up sleeping on one of the couches outside of whispering canyon. She was so tired and just couldn't make it through dinner so I sat with her out there. I almost fell asleep too. I love that place. I am having I do know I LOVE the deluxe resorts soooo much better than the value ones. I am hoping for a great bounce back deal when we are there as Tim has given me the go ahead to start planning next May's family trip....woooo---hooooo!!!!pixiedust:

I hope you like AKV next week, too! It is also relaxing, but in a little less familiar of a way....the animals are just so beautiful everywhere...:cloud9: And very happy you are going back next May with your family!

party: SINGLE DIGIT DANCE FOR YOU party:

YEAH Baby!! And now single digits for you too!! :dance3::yay::dance3:

You have been cranking out the updates, but I am finally caught up!!!!

Sean has spring break this week, so I am at home a lot. I figure I should get to it while I can!

I would be annoyed with the lack of communication about transporting to the cruise and luggage too.

I'm pretty laid back, not a lot annoys me- but I would have liked a little more notice on all this, ya know?

Your surprise looks great. I can't watch videos on my laptop, so I will have to check them out later on my desktop.

I LOVE surprising them!!!!!!

Your pics of VWL are great, makes me want to go back there again! I'm really looking forward to reading about the cruise, just love DCL!

They make me want to go back again, too! ::yes:: Really the video with all the birds singing does it the most to me- LOVED that morning music! And I love DCL too!

Dang, Jenny beat me on the cookie.

GEEZ! Am I the only one who doesn't know Minnie's shoe around here??

What a fun morning! I love that. I really want to spend some time exploring the Fort in Dec. Even though we stayed in the cabins we never made it to the trails, or the Tri Circle D...or the campfire or..

There were a LOT more nature trails around than just the bike route- it would be a lot of fun to explore, I hope you do get to this December. As would everything else you mentioned, I'm sure-

One of the best things you can do is explore the resorts like you did on bikes, how very very fun.

I ALWAYS love to do that- the only time I ever did NOT enjoy renting a bike was around Crescent Lake from BWV- we almost threw Pods in the lake after a ride on one of those surrey bikes around the lake because he was yelling at the boys to peddle more on the hills and then wouldn't brake coming down the hills, and Tyler was scared to death we were going to tip over and he was trying to kill us.:eek:

Happy times.

:laughing:

Other than that, bikes are a great thing for us at WDW or anywhere else- we're going to bike over the GG Bridge this summer- can't wait for that!


Thanks Ellen - so loving the trip report. We were at VWL after our cruise in March, and it's wonderful to see your photos. We own at BLT, but I think this is my second favourite. It's so peaceful.

Aww....you're welcome! :hug:

You mentioned earlier that you had to call in advance to get your car from Alamo at the Car Care Center. How much notice do they need?

I think only a day or two- a phone call over there in the afternoon would probably be a good idea, rather than a call like mine in the am when their phones are ringing off the hook and people are all trying to get their cars.

I'm also curious to know how far in advance you booked the car. I have a one-day reservation in August that I'm still trying to whittle the price down on.

I booked a few months in advance, just to have one, but then kept at it every so often- closer to the date (maybe a month?) the price dropped.

Also, our March trip is going to be a spring training tour, including Lakeland to see my husband's beloved Tigers. How much in advance did you order those tickets to get the prime seats beside Helen?!!

I bought my tickets on 1/13/13- that was right around when they first came out, it may have been the first day, I'm not sure now. And I was not able to get good seats from the Tigers directly- they only offered the upper tier seats for single games. To sit by Helen :rotfl:, I went on Tickets now- they had the best price, the seats were $143 each with a $56 service charge.

Thanks. Can't wait to see the ship. We soooo loved the Fantasy.

Good to know- I plan on loving her myself in December on a NYE cruise!:yay:
 
Wilderness Lodge is beautiful, reminds me so much of El Tovar. I would love to stay at the Grand Canyon, but it's a couple year or more wait time.

That's what Karin said! And my girlfriend Joan told me my TR makes her want to stay there- I think because it brought back memories of last year's trip to the GC and El Tovar. By the way- she got El Tovar less than a year out- she just kept an eye on it, and added a night at a time- and that was for a July trip, so anything is possible!

Yeah those horses can be really big! Got to keep these boards clean, LOL. Why not rent horses at Fort Wilderness? I keep saying I'm going to do it, but never find the time.

:rotfl: I do think about riding when we are at WDW- I thought we might have done it when we were there for 10 days in November- but everyone kept wanting to go to the parks everyday....and then at the end they said we were at WDW too long and it started to feel like Groundhog Day! :faint: Well DUH!!!!! We had all these other things to do, and they kept choosing the rides! Really- I am not asking opinions any more- I am just going to lead the charge, they all seem happiest then anyway.

Looked like a great morning with the bike ride and the ponies and horses !!Can't wait till May 5th when I will be Cruisin'!!!

Rosie, I am SOOOO excited for you going on your first cruise, and the Disney Dream at that! :hyper: What are your plans? How many people are you bringing on this one? Are they making any exceptions for your group to go into the kids clubs?

Whew, I'm caught up again. Even though we live in the country I think the VWL look like they'd be a fun place to stay. The resort and grounds are beautiful.

Love the cruise shirts even if they have Yankee's on them, (sorry A's fan here so I have to say that).:goodvibes

That's ok- everyone says that unless they are a Yankees fan- but we proudly wear the Yankees! Even when the Twins kick our butts! :rotfl:

Glad you enjoyed your BOG dinner, too bad Timmy was soo tired to go on any rides after.

Nice pics on the bike ride.

Yay! :yay: You are about to leave for the Cruise! Can't wait, Love the shirts!

I know! About time, right? This IS the Cruise TR board, after all!

What an awesome morning. Loved the pix tour of the lovely WL.

Tyler says he wants to ride Tower of Terror...we'll see. He's a ride chicken like his mom. His brother Matthew did point out that sometimes we drive 65 mph on the highway...:moped:

Can't wait for the cruise portion.

I spent a good part of my life as a ride chicken. A few years ago I started riding everything (well- I still won't ride that Sky coaster thing ever!)- it is a lot more fun riding the rides and embracing the thrill than it ever was sitting on the bench outside waiting for my family. I hope he rides!TT is just FUN- not scary at all.:thumbsup2
 
Somewhere around 11:45 the nice DCL lady I had been chatting with came up to us and said it was time to board the bus! They checked our documents, and we were the first on, sitting in that coveted front seat.



We were hoping to stop at the Contemporary and pick those passengers up next (there was a mom and son I had been chatting with on our meet thread, toniosmom, and I was hoping to meet her!), but we went to Port Orleans instead. Then, we were on our way!



I did my best to convince the driver to drive fast and take chances, promising a big tip for going 80 mph or above, but he just laughed at me- :rotfl: Even when I got several people to say they would chip in for the ticket! STILL he refused to put the pedal-to-the-metal, claiming some silly issue with losing his Bus license. :confused3 He was a very nice guy, though, and we chatted on the loooong ride to the port.

Well, it's not really THAT long of a ride, but you just want to get there SOOO badly!

He pointed out Deseret Ranch- have you ever noticed the cattle ranch on the way to the port? It is the largest Cattle Ranch in the US, and it is owned by the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Timmy just rolled his eyes at me while we talked. He thinks I talk to everyone-
No idea why he feels that way. :rolleyes1

We watched the DCL vid, followed by cartoons, followed by Tom Bergeron enjoying the Aquaduck and a bunch of America's Funniest home Videos.

Until we saw-





And we were going over the last bridge-

click to play-


And then we were-



This was my 4th Disney cruise, my 8th cruise over all, and I have to say, seeing that ship, WHATEVER ship it is as you approach your vacation, is SO FREAKIN EXCITING!!!

Ok- so now here was the part where all that confusion on my part over how this bus worked paid off- it was AWESOME to just get off the bus and not have to drag the luggage to the porter, or the ship- just get off the bus, go get on the cruise. EXCELLENT!!!!::yes::





I can tell you that the terminal was very crowded when we were there, much more crowded than we are used to. Normally, we have hired a car and arrived between 12:15 and 1, and this was just a little later than that, but not by much. Although, even with the crowds, it did not take very long to get through the ears, which was kind of surprising. This was the only cattle herding of our vacation-



MOO! In no time at all....

click to play-


YAY!!! So happy!!! And...no matter HOW many times I embark on a Disney Cruise, that first moment ALWAYS brings tears to my eyes- it's even doing it now, here at my computer, as I type. Such. A. Sap! As you may have heard in the video, Timmy wanted to hit the head, so we chose to go straight to our cabin on Deck 6. It was nice to have my son lugging the carry on bag up the stairs-



Even if he wasn't using the wheels- :rotfl:



The luggage area on our deck was open, and we saw our luggage in there- a GREAT thing to see!!



TA-DAA!!! Cabin 6002- Forward, all the way!



When I had booked this cruise, I had originally booked an inside cabin- but as I watched the rates (which this cruise was sold out due to being right before Easter and during Passover), at some point a 9D GTY came online for about $60 more TOTAL- so I called my TA, she called DCL, and after 15 minutes on the phone with the DCL guy, I got a porthole. I just mention all this because the DCL guy was insisting for the first 8 minutes of the conversation that these cabins were not available at the price I was seeing online, until finally he saw what I was talking about. My TA, who is a good friend, had 2 phones to her head and was relaying all this between our calls- at one point the DCL guy complimented me on finding the fare- the TA told him he had no idea what a DISgeek he was messing with- I told him to have a Magical Day when we were done. :rotfl:

Up next- Cabin 6002-

 


I cry when i see the ship too! Nothing like coming over the bridge to see the most beautiful site!

Look at Smiley Timmy! I think he was excited to be on the ship!

Jill in CO
 
Cabin 6002 is configured a little differently since it has a slanted wall and is at the very front of the ship. So when the wall slants, it gives you a little extra floor space- which is GREAT for storing some stuff!







This was our docked view-



And FINALLY I was getting a backpack!! Last year Kara took the one in our room on the DISmoms cruise because she had lost hers from the Magic the month before- still not sure how I lost THAT challenge-of course, now she is in love with RCCL and probably has thrown the aforementioned backpack in the trash, but, I digress...









Seen enough? Me too- time for lunch in Cabanas-





I did not take many pics here, mostly because I had taken TONS last year on the Dream, so here are just the pics of our plates-



Once again, those crab claws were PHENOMENAL! As were the lamb chops. Really really yummy. I did go back for more crab, I think. Timmy had-



I guess he wasn't very hungry? We grabbed a couple of chocolate chip cookies on the way out, and went off to tour the ship. Which was Tim's request- that I show him around like I always do. :confused3 I thought he hated that! Who knew?



I couldn't WAIT to ride the Aquaduck with Tim!





I couldn't WAIT to mini golf with Tim!

And...here is the real reason (I think) Timmy wanted a tour- he wanted to shoot hoops! Where's that Sports deck, Mom?





Hmmm...it seems like basketball is a little more challenging than it looks- when the wind is CRAZEEE, which it was...and when Mom of the Year (that would be ME) forgets to put sunscreen on her son's neck the day before at a Yankee game and he has sunburn under his necklace. OOPS.

Click to play-


REALLY cracks me up he calls it a necklace and not a lanyard (WHERE ARE YOUR NECKLACES???? :rotfl2: Ahhhh...an oldie, but a goodie- anyone remember that? It was also from a Spring Break trip report....good times.):rotfl2:

WOW it was WINDY!!! :scratchin And HMMM...it looks pretty cloudy...





Cont'd next post-

 
The adult pool was looking GREAT!! And empty!



We kept walking, and when we went by the bar at the Adult area, on our way to searching for Edge, who did I see working?

My favorite DCL CM. Alex. :love:

Her back was turned, so I walked up to the bar and cleared my throat.

Gosh, I really hope she remembered me.

Ummm...yea- she did. She screamed her head off, and I got 5 minutes of good strong Romanian hugging!! Oh- I was SOOO happy to see her!! She is the BEST!! I had told her I was coming on facebook every so often, but she wasn't sure of the exact date- so we were both very happy it was NOW!!!!!

Here we are-



She told me she was on the rotation to be in Pink on this cruise, and we chatted for a bit before I told her I would see her tonight! And.....every night! :thumbsup2

We figured out where Edge was- Timmy would be turning 14 the following month, so we just assumed that meant he would be hangin in Edge one last time (ages 11-14) before he bumped up to Vibe (ages 14-17)on our Fantasy cruise in December.









Timmy really liked the looks of the club, and some CMs came up to us telling us the ages in the club- I guess they were a little shocked Timmy was only 13. I will say, he was looking REAL tall in there! :rotfl:

Next, I suggested we go see Vibe, so he would know what he'd be doing on our Fantasy cruise and could report back to Tyler.

Easier said than done- I think we needed directions a few times to find Vibe! (I kept thinking, MAN! I stink at this tour guide job- someone needs to fire me already!! :rotfl:) But we finally made it-











OOPS!!! Premature-e-post-ulation!! Back soon!


 





A CM came up to say hello, and I explained we were here to check it out for the next cruise- that timmy was 13, 14 next month. Then we went outside-













When we went back inside, the same CM came up to us with a waiver form- she said Timmy was welcome to hang in Vibe on the cruise as well as Edge, as long as I signed her form saying it was ok. Sure- if Tim wants to check it out and doesn't have to give up privileges in Edge, why not? I was a little concerned because of the bad experience on RCCL 2 years ago when Tim had some issues with some 17 year olds in the barely supervised club on Explorer- but really, I knew that he would be fine here (he would have been fine THERE now, too)- I just needed to make sure HE knew he would be ok.

In case you are wondering, Tim spent the entire cruise in Vibe- he NEVER saw EDGE again after our tour. :thumbsup2

It was now 3 pm- and we needed to make a beeline to the Vista Café for our DISmeet- and, as it turns out, shelter from the storm! :scared1: Next!

 
Do you remember what was stuck on your stateroom door when you arrived? Looks like a magnet for something and possibly a DVC invite? We love it when they drop off the 11X13 artsy DVC pictures. We bring them home, frame them, and have them hanging in the hallway between the kids bedrooms.

Guy in the pool looks concerned that you are taking his photo! :)

When I saw how tall Tim was compared with the other kids in the Edge and then you said you went see Vibe I immediately thought "Yep, I think that's the last of the Edge will hear about in this trip report". So glad they gave him that option. Looking around, it looks to me like the Vibe was likely a much better experience for him.
 
Love the video of you coming on-board. I can't wait to see the Fantasy atrium - only 248 days to go!
 
the rooms looks great. Now if one of those behemoths stayed put and didn't go out to sea and I could get off when I wanted--i'd totally be in. But seriously that place looks grand.
 
I cry when i see the ship too! Nothing like coming over the bridge to see the most beautiful site!

Look at Smiley Timmy! I think he was excited to be on the ship!

Jill in CO

He was TOTALLY excited!! He sure did hate that RCCL cruise, but he has loved every DCL cruise he has taken- at age 9, 11, and now 13. :thumbsup2

Do you remember what was stuck on your stateroom door when you arrived? Looks like a magnet for something and possibly a DVC invite? We love it when they drop off the 11X13 artsy DVC pictures. We bring them home, frame them, and have them hanging in the hallway between the kids bedrooms.

Yes- it was the magnet (which disappeared....) and the invite to the DVC meet (which we missed because we were touring the ship and then went to the DISmeet. I don't know if they have ever given me an artsy dvc pic?:confused3 You mean like the ones they send when you watch a webinar?

Guy in the pool looks concerned that you are taking his photo! :)

Too late now!

When I saw how tall Tim was compared with the other kids in the Edge and then you said you went see Vibe I immediately thought "Yep, I think that's the last of the Edge will hear about in this trip report". So glad they gave him that option. Looking around, it looks to me like the Vibe was likely a much better experience for him.

Yea- he did look VERY big compared to the other kids in there. So glad it all worked out for him!

Love the video of you coming on-board. I can't wait to see the Fantasy atrium - only 248 days to go!

Woohooooo!!!!! 247 days!!!!! I'll count them down with you now!

the rooms looks great. Now if one of those behemoths stayed put and didn't go out to sea and I could get off when I wanted--i'd totally be in. But seriously that place looks grand.

Umm- they have that!! It's called a hotel. :rolleyes1

You are making me homesick for the Dream.

I'm sorry!!!!! I miss her too! I'm very excited to go back to WDW next week, but I am really bummed we cancelled the cruise part of our trip! REALLY bummed!! :sad2: It is absolutely my MOST favorite type of vacation. :goodvibes
 
We've gotten in the stateroom 11 X 13 poster like pictures. Some art deco looking, some that look like prints of paintings. One with an art deco rendering of the Eiffel Tower that had a caption like "See the World with Disney Vacation Club", another with a painting of Big Ben. A painting of Mickey Mouse in pirate gear. All were either ads for DVC and/or Adventures by Disney. When I get home later, I'll try to remember to take a pic of my wall and post it here so you can see what I mean.

Maybe you never received those in the stateroom because you are already a member?
 
More updates! :banana:

BOG looks so good. I can’t wait to eat there in August. It is especially helpful that you and Tim ordered the exact two entrees that I am going to be deciding between. :thumbsup2 :rotfl2:

I really enjoyed the WL and FW pictures. It’s just not a resort that I ever hear that much about. And it looks amazing!

But I have to admit, I’m so excited that the cruise portion of the TR has begun! DCL cruises really are the best mom vacations ever! We are wrapping up our WDW trip this summer with a cruise on the Fantasy. I cannot wait!!

Actually, I would be interested in hearing what you would advise as far as transportation to the ship. I was sort of thinking that I would get a town car to drive us since it doesn’t cost a ton more and would get us to the port earlier. But I see that you took the DCL bus. Since you have done both, which would you recommend? (Our only other DCL cruise was Alaska, so we have never sailed out of PC before.)

The Cabanas lunch offerings look pretty impressive! And your stateroom is beautiful - I love that it is a little different with the slanted wall.

It is really fun to see the pics of the tween and teen clubs. We haven’t made it to those and won’t for a while since my DD is only 6!

Make sure you walk outside a little when you are there- the twinkling lights are really cool- I wonder what you will think. Where are you eating?

We will make sure to do that! Thanks! We are having dinner at Artist Point - decided to do the Deluxe dining plan this trip, so we are checking out a variety of signature restaurants. :cool1:
 
I'm so happy reading your trip report -- of course, we had that very same view of the ship as we were driving up in the DCL bus. We won't be back until next April, so I'm going to be very homesick between now and then. I'm SO jealous that you will be back next week!

We'll be on the April 13th cruise on the Dream next year, so if you happen to re-book onboard your next trip, remember you have friends on the April 13th sailing! :rolleyes1 I could use a drinking partner in Pink!
 

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