Excuse me, you'll need to see security. What has Mickeystoontown done? Update 3/25x2

[mickeystoontown]

Oh! You are finally on the boat! Yippee! I can't wait to hear more and let's hope the food reviews get better!

We were all excited to finally finally be on the Dream!

OK; I'm still reading this update, but if you got lost on the Bee Line, I'm going to make you turn in your RCA card, y'hear?

ETA: Whew! Good, I didn't think it was possible for anybody to get lost on a straight line drive.

As you can see...we didnt' get lost going to the Port. Thank goodness!

I am so excited to hear about the ship! On our HAL cruise to Alaska, the buffet was not the strong suit, but the sit-down restaurant was scrumptious! With a heavy full breakfast from the buffet, and a large dinner at night, we ate very lightly at lunch from the buffet. It was okay, but we didn't want THREE big meals in one day, anyway. The desserts were always good, though, and the bread pudding was to die for! Hope the rest of the meals were better.

If we were ever to do a cruise again, it would be a cruise to Alaska. That would be a dream come true!

Pulling into the terminal is soooo exciting!! Cant wait to hear about the cruise! that stinks about the food though! When we cruised (not on Disney though) the food was excellent, like perfect, so I hope it got better for you!

I hate toll roads, ughhhh, never did that one but we drove down to Maryland and the tolls in Jersey are annoying, on one we kept throwing money in the basket and it wouldn't register it, I must have thrown $5 in a .35 toll lol, people were beeping and I said forget it and just went

We all thought that the food at Cabanas was just okay.

John asked me "hey sweetie britches, what you do think would happen if we didn't put the right amount of money in?" I just looked at him and said "see that camera up there, I'm sure it snaps a picture of our license plate and we'll find a wonderful surprise ticket waiting for us when we get home." Needless to say, we made sure that we had correct change.

I would have been ticked off it I had to put $5 in for a 35 Cent toll.

T-rex looked great. I am excited to give it a try! Still 4 months to go!

I love the cruise terminal. It's so pretty. Did you visit the bathroom in there? not so magical compared to the rest of the place.

I loved the welcome aboard buffet. It sounds like I had different food than you did though. But as for the shrimp....I have never heard of peel and eat shrimp having spices....so that must be a Louisianna thing. Or those of us in Ohio are just boring. My Mom had that same icecream and she still talks about how good it was. I tried the cookies and cream in Aug and it was really good too.
So the important question needs to be asked.....Did you have a chocolate Chip cookie. If you say you didn't like it...I might have to come there and strangle you! I think I could live on a diet of just those on the ship.

No I didn't go in the bathroom in the terminal, just the one in the parking building.

Seriously? What the heck do ya'll boil your shrimp in? Just water? P.M. me your address....I'm going to mail you some of the famous Louisiana shrimp boil. You'll never want to eat bland boiled shrimp again.

Okay, so I'm going to run after I post this.....John and I both said that the chocolate chip cookies had an odd taste. They tasted like they had cinnamon in them. I'm not saying that they weren't good, I'm just saying they tasted different than the ones I bake.

Those coastal people put spices on EVERYTHING!! Cajun seasoning is on a lot of tables right next to the salt and pepper! Eggs… biscuits and gravy… fried chicken… mashed potatoes…

Amen sister! If it ain't a spice you can shake on, we have spice that you pour on. I bet there's at least a half dozen kind of pepper/hot sauces in my fridge right now.

YAY, We're on the cruise, we're on the cruise . The ship really is pretty!! I can hear Dale now "This place is to fru fru for me"...............

I can just see Dale saying that. It was a bit fru fru in some places but not in others.

I'm finally caught up! Loving it all of course, and very curious about that trip report title...!

And you say, this is when the underwhelmed feelings started? Does that mean there are more? I hope not!

Hey Brook! I guess the moving process has slowed down. I should be getting to how the name came about in the next installment or so.

I will go ahead and admit that, yes, we were underwhelmed by a lot of the food.

Lovin' your trip report, can't wait for more!

Thank you! I hope you'll stick around cause this is going to be a pretty long trip report.

 

[mickeystoontown]

you are on the ship. Florida tolls are ridiculous (and I thought Illinois was bad!). So glad you've arrived and can't wait to hear more about it.

All of us were just itching to get on the ship!

Just started reading your trip report! We are thinking about staying at CBR next July. I just think it looks so beautiful! Can't wait to hear more.

Welcome! Stick around, I have lots and lots more pictures of the CBR. It's a beautiful resort and pictures do not do it justice.

Hunter looks much older! I've heard that DCL isn't nearly as good about recognizing special occasions as WDW is, so I'm pleased to hear that they gave him a birthday button and the pianist played him a song!

Sorry the food wasn't great. Seems like people either love or hate the food on DCL. I'm hoping that you aren't the former for the whole cruise.

Love all the pictures you take! The bathroom mirrors are awesome!

I told you that you wouldn't believe the difference between the 14 year old Hunter and the 15 year old Hunter. I didn't realize that they would do something special for Hunter's birthday so it was a treat when they played Happy Birthday on the piano.

The food was just so-so to us.

Weren't those bathroom mirror cute! I kept thinking "you know, I could do that at home".

Sounds great so far Except the food that is which really sucks bc I'm like you and have heard that cruise food is Ssoooooo good. Hmm, maybe it was just sendoff day food. LOL and will build in delectableness as they days go by??

The excitement of being on the cruise helped ease the blah food.

Those burgers at T-Rex are HUGE! Hunter's birthday is the same as my oldest DD.
I would love to do a cruise, but I can't imagine being that close to WDW and not going.

The T-Rex burgers (and really all of their food) are huge!

You hit the nail right on the head....we liked the cruise but would have liked being in Disney more.

All caught up on pictures and updates!

Yeah for arriving and being on the cruise. Too bad the first meal was underwhelming. I hope it gets better fast. Did Hunter ride the aquaduck?

Can't wait to see your room and looking forward to the sail away party!

How does that redneck b-day song go again?

The wait times for the Aqua Duck were ridiculous! I know at one time, the wait was over an hour. But, we did get to have one go-round during the cruise.

Seriously? You really don't want me to sing the Happy Birthday/Anniversary/I Lost My Tooth/I got a new car/etc etc. etc. do you?

This picture has inspired me to share my very favorite limerick (at least my favorite that I can post on a family board...)

A wondrous bird, the pelican
His beak holds more than his belly can
He holds in his beak
Enough food for a week
I don't know how the hell he can

Welcome aboard!!! Love your pictures of the ship so far. The Disney touches are awesome- the entryway, the bathroom mirrors, the elevator lever.

We sailed out of Port Canaveral once, but I didn't see any of the Nasa buildings. That's cool!

Loved the Pelican limmerick! Too cute!

There were Disney touches everywhere on the ship.

If I hadn't know that we could see the NASA building, I might not have noticed it.

T-Rex looks mouth watering! We'll have to try for an ADR on our next trip. Glad to finally hear about your cruise. I can't wait to hear the details since we'll be on our first cruise in a very short time.

I could go for some T-Rex right now! The cruise was nice but we've decided we're not "cruise people".

Yay you are on the ship! Can't wait to hear all about it!

We were all so excited to finally be on the ship!

I can't wait to go on a cruise!!!!!!!! One day!!!

Sorry the first meal was less than wonderful… But I like the little spot you had to sit and chill. Can't wait for more!!

Even though there was a lot of construction going on in front of us, our view from the deck was quite nice.

OMGoodness, Lisa...I am bouncing around in my desk chair just as excited as you were to be boarding that ship! I want to take a cruise so badly!One of these days...

More, bring us more Dream, bring us more food, bring us more ocean views....MORE!!!!!

It was all I could do to just sit there and wait for our room to be ready. We wanted to go see our home away from home.

I love the pics of the ship from the highway and the terminal! I can't wait to hear more!!

We are booked on the Fantasy for spring break next year and I'm going to be the one who breaks into all out sobs when we walk on that ship. I've been wanting to go on a Disney cruise for years.

Sorry you weren't impressed with the buffet food. I find that I'm never really excited with the food on the buffets on our cruises. It doesn't matter which cruise line we are on.

I wanted to cry but I knew there were too many people around and I'd look like an idiot.

The buffet wasn't that great but the excitement of being onboard made up for it.

Illinois are bad! I have a big baggie of change every time I go to visit my sister. I think I'll leave the driving to Disney!





YAY, you're on the ship! I would look all "country come to town" myself! Just slack-jawed and staring.

Sorry the food wasn't all that, but good desert trumps all!


Love the pelican, when Kadence was little, (littler than she is now) she called them PAL-icans. It was so cute

I was trying my best to act composed and "normal" but I don't know that I pulled it off. I kept pointing to this and that and then this again.

Oh, PAL-icans...that's cute!

I got behind - I think disboards was not sending me out any messages! I am going to have to put T-rex on our list for next trip.

I am excited that you started the cruise part of the trip! I hate that you found the food to be lacking - but the night dinners are always the best! Breakfast and lunch I have usually found lacking. I can't wait to read more!!

I've been having touble getting my email updates too! I'll go for a day or so without any notifications.

The food was pretty underwhelming but there were some entrees that made up for it.

When we did our cruise/land trip in '06, I remember also being underwhelmed by the buffets but the sit-down restaurants more than made up for it. OMG! So good! And if you didn't like your first choice, they'd bring you something different. This redneck from Ohio isn't used to kinda service. Usually, it's "slap a plate on your table, mumble something incoherent and then never be heard from or seen again". Or not seen until you've been done with your food for a half hour and had to flag down your server three times to get your bill.

The service on the ship was fantastic! They certainly tended to your every need.

 

[adisneymama]

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Kathy Jetson]

We got completely turned around trying to get to the outlet stores on our way home from Disney this year. We ended up on a toll road and I know I saw the same guy at the toll booth twice. I'm glad we had cash with us. I got so mad I finally just gave up and we came home with no shopping trip

That's so cool that the piano player played Happy Birthday to Hunter. I think that would have made me cry.

River wants to go on a Disney cruise so bad. He loves looking at your pictures! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[ddstratton]

You're on the ship! I'm loving it so far... and you haven't even gotten to your cabin yet! Just this little bit is already making me want to book a cruise...

 

[Bridora]

Yum! I'm going to have to remember that tomato soup the next time we're at T-Rex!

And yay! for being "on the boat"! I was so excited to see you guys in line! And then at lunch! I'll have to go back and look at my pictures. I think I may have gotten a picture of my 1st plate, but I was really trying to not be a pig and I'm thinking it was pretty sparse! And of course my kids don't go for me taking pics of their food!

 

[Cinderella16]

Joining in for another of your great reports!

I'm excited to read about your cruise experience. We'd love to try it one day soon!!

 

[JessietheNCCowgirl]

Glad to see you made it on the ship! I liked your pics of NASA from the cape! That was so cool that the piano man played Happy Birthday to Hunter. Oh, speaking of Hunter's birthday I love the birthday song from John's church that you sang to him and laughed when you said they sang it for everything! What is the tune - or is it unique to the church?

I adore Hunter's Kermit backpack - it's so cool! (I was going to type cute, but decided Hunter might not like his backpack being described as cute).

I hope the food on the ship gets better!

 

[PolyPrincess19]

I'm in the same "boat" as John (haha, a little cruise humor there) in finding the first lifeboat to stake claim on!! You know, just in case!!

Super bummed to hear that Cabanas food wasn't that great We're going on the Dream for a 4 night cruise next September and the food is the big thing I'm looking forward to!!

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[PennyLane1084]

First I need to comment on the food at T-Rex. Those Burgers were HUGE!! John's burger looked like it was as big as his head! That sampler platter looks mighty tasty as well. Yum-O!

We were also given our boarding pass number...number 9.

Number 9…..Number 9….Number 9

Lovely shirt Lisa!

A castmember walked beside Hunter and said “listen, they’re playing a song for you”. It was then that we realized the piano player was playing Happy Birthday.

What a lovely entrance to the ship with the piano playing Happy Birthday for Hunter. What a fantastc birthday!

So Pretty. **Sigh**

When I came back, a 15 year old Hunter was relaxing and playing one of his games:

They grow up so fast. *Sniff Sniff* Sweet backpack Hunter!

 

[PennyLane1084]

Florida tolls are ridiculous (and I thought Illinois was bad!).

Ipass For The Win! Amirite fellow Illinoisians??
(I may or may not have just made up a few words. )

 

[lovethattink]

Lisa, what a great update. Boy did you make me homesick for a Disney cruise!! That's great that you saw a fellow DISer. Love that view over the bridge when you see the ship!!

And OH those tolls! They are killer. I'd hate to figure out how much our sunpass gets charged and recharged in a year's time!

you are on the ship. Florida tolls are ridiculous (and I thought Illinois was bad!). So glad you've arrived and can't wait to hear more about it.

Are you ready for this, Kathy? It was on the news the other night about I-4 becoming a toll road. That would just be insane!! Granted it would create unbelievable revenew for the state, but it will kill the pockets of residents and vacationers!! Here's an article about it http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...-20120708_1_lexus-lanes-toll-lanes-toll-money

 

[DisneyMom5]

Ipass For The Win! Amirite fellow Illinoisians??
(I may or may not have just made up a few words. )

We live in WI, but travel to MI frequently...through Chicago.
I-pass/I-zoom does, indeed, ROCK.

 

[MissLiz]

Ipass For The Win! Amirite fellow Illinoisians??
(I may or may not have just made up a few words. )

We moved from Chicago about 7 years ago and our Ipass is still in DH's old car! I think it still had money on it when we left, but I have no clue how to find out anymore.

We decided to invest in SunPass for Florida. We go down a couple times a year and it's just so nice to not have to worry about tolls. We've got it set up to add $10 anytime it goes under $10 so we don't have a ton of money sitting on it at any time.

 

[jusero]

Finally caught up! Can't wait to see more of that beautiful ship.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Surprise Hunter! It’s your birthday! What the heck is that smell?

We left the hustle and bustle of the main pool area and went in search of our stateroom. Our stateroom number was 8166 and we had no idea of where to start so we took the first elevator that we saw and then walked and walked and walked. Ahh, there it is! 8166!

Prior to our departure, I had ordered Hunter a birthday celebration package which was described as follows:

Surprise your loved one with a decorated stateroom & birthday cake. Package includes:
1 birthday cake
1 cascade
1 banner
1 centerpiece
1 door magnet

The decorations in the picture on the Disney Cruise Line site looked a little kiddish but I was sure that Hunter wouldn’t care so long as it was something that recognized the fact that it was his birthday. I made sure that Hunter was the one who opened the stateroom door so that he would get the first look at the decorations. He opened the door and the first thing that he saw was the Happy Birthday banner. John and I both said “Surprise Hunter! It’s your birthday!”.

I am going to apologize now for the poor quality of some of the pictures. I didn’t even think about the fact that the sunlight was coming in from the humongous porthole and that Hunter and his cake would be in the shadows.

The birthday cake:

The porthole was huge and Hunter immediately sat down to take a look outside:

More of the decorations:

As I said, the decorations were geared more towards younger kids but they did their “happy birthday” job.

It hit me that I needed to take pictures of the room before our things were moved in. Standing at the foot of the bed and looking toward the desk:

Taken from the entranceway:

Standing near the porthole looking towards the entranceway:

Details:

One of the reasons that I upgraded us to the Deluxe Family Stateroom is so we would have a split bath. When we opened the door, we caught a whiff of a smell. Let’s see how I can say this without being gross. I can’t....it smelled like poop. Not super stinky but a smell nevertheless. I took pictures but then made sure that the doors were closed tightly.

The side with the toilet and sink:

The other side with the sink and shower:

I turned to take a picture of the inside of the closet:

And that’s when my two goofballs spotted the lifevests. John said that since somebody had taken his dadgum dingy, he needed to at least make sure that the lifevests were in working order.

Once John had tried it on, Hunter needed to give it a try too:

Now that the men felt secure they put the lifevests back up but then noticed the short little ladder in the closet. You missed the ladder in the picture? Here it is again:

Yeah, it’s a little short and we were on the 8th deck. How the heck were we supposed to put that dinky little ladder to use? Bust out the porthole, hook the short ladder on it and jump?

Once we finished looking in all the nooks and crannies (making sure to keep the door to the stinky bathrooms closed tightly), we remembered to look at the view from our porthole:

I present to you Mr. 15 year old Hunter lazing in the porthole:

**Up next: Aft? Forward? Starboard? Where the heck do we go?

 

[mickeystoontown]

Finally caught up! Can't wait to see more of that beautiful ship.

More pics of the ship coming up in next installment!

We moved from Chicago about 7 years ago and our Ipass is still in DH's old car! I think it still had money on it when we left, but I have no clue how to find out anymore.

We decided to invest in SunPass for Florida. We go down a couple times a year and it's just so nice to not have to worry about tolls. We've got it set up to add $10 anytime it goes under $10 so we don't have a ton of money sitting on it at any time.

That's a good idea!

Lisa, what a great update. Boy did you make me homesick for a Disney cruise!! That's great that you saw a fellow DISer. Love that view over the bridge when you see the ship!!

And OH those tolls! They are killer. I'd hate to figure out how much our sunpass gets charged and recharged in a year's time!




Are you ready for this, Kathy? It was on the news the other night about I-4 becoming a toll road. That would just be insane!! Granted it would create unbelievable revenew for the state, but it will kill the pockets of residents and vacationers!! Here's an article about it http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...-20120708_1_lexus-lanes-toll-lanes-toll-money

We were all excited to catch a glimpse of the cruise ships. John was trying to act all manly and not smile but I could tell that he was smiling inside.

First I need to comment on the food at T-Rex. Those Burgers were HUGE!! John's burger looked like it was as big as his head! That sampler platter looks mighty tasty as well. Yum-O!

Number 9…..Number 9….Number 9

Lovely shirt Lisa!



What a lovely entrance to the ship with the piano playing Happy Birthday for Hunter. What a fantastc birthday!


So Pretty. **Sigh**


They grow up so fast. *Sniff Sniff* Sweet backpack Hunter!

The burgers at T-Rex are huge!

I found that shirt at Belk and it's so comfy. As a matter of fact, I told John I'm going back this weekend to buy more before they start putting out their Fall/Winter clothes.

You like the backpack? I found it on clearance at Target about three or four years ago. It was stuffed into the luggage side pocket.

I'm in the same "boat" as John (haha, a little cruise humor there) in finding the first lifeboat to stake claim on!! You know, just in case!!

Super bummed to hear that Cabanas food wasn't that great We're going on the Dream for a 4 night cruise next September and the food is the big thing I'm looking forward to!!

Can't wait to read more!!

John was seriously checking out the lifeboats. He wanted to make sure he knew where they were.

The food at Cabanas was just okay which was a bit disappointing.

Glad to see you made it on the ship! I liked your pics of NASA from the cape! That was so cool that the piano man played Happy Birthday to Hunter. Oh, speaking of Hunter's birthday I love the birthday song from John's church that you sang to him and laughed when you said they sang it for everything! What is the tune - or is it unique to the church?

I adore Hunter's Kermit backpack - it's so cool! (I was going to type cute, but decided Hunter might not like his backpack being described as cute).

I hope the food on the ship gets better!

The church birthday/anniversary/whateveryouwanttocelebrate song has it's own unique tune.

Isn't that Kermit backpack cute! I found it on clearance at Target many years ago.

Joining in for another of your great reports!

I'm excited to read about your cruise experience. We'd love to try it one day soon!!

Welcome! I hope you'll stick around for the rest of our adventure!

Yum! I'm going to have to remember that tomato soup the next time we're at T-Rex!

And yay! for being "on the boat"! I was so excited to see you guys in line! And then at lunch! I'll have to go back and look at my pictures. I think I may have gotten a picture of my 1st plate, but I was really trying to not be a pig and I'm thinking it was pretty sparse! And of course my kids don't go for me taking pics of their food!

I know that I took pictures of the food at Cabanas but I can't find them anywhere. I think I may have accidentally deleted. them.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Well, the room looks nice, too bad it didn't smell as nice! I'm sure Hunter loved the Happy Birthday decorations, even if they were more kid-ish.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Can't wait to read more!

Just posted an update!

We got completely turned around trying to get to the outlet stores on our way home from Disney this year. We ended up on a toll road and I know I saw the same guy at the toll booth twice. I'm glad we had cash with us. I got so mad I finally just gave up and we came home with no shopping trip

That's so cool that the piano player played Happy Birthday to Hunter. I think that would have made me cry.

River wants to go on a Disney cruise so bad. He loves looking at your pictures! Can't wait to hear more!

Thank goodness it's not just our family who can get turned around on a roll road! I've thought about venturing out to the outlet stores but John's not a shopper so we haven't done it yet.

Tell River that the cruise is, unfortunately, not as fun as WDW.

You're on the ship! I'm loving it so far... and you haven't even gotten to your cabin yet! Just this little bit is already making me want to book a cruise...

We were so happy to finally board the Disney Dream!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Well, the room looks nice, too bad it didn't smell as nice! I'm sure Hunter loved the Happy Birthday decorations, even if they were more kid-ish.

Can't wait to read more!

The smell was funky! I had read on a couple of other reports that they had the funky smell as well.

Hunter was happy with the decorations.