Once Upon a Dream, We Took Our First Cruise - Goodbye Dream Vacation

[kmedina]

OMG, WOW!!! Xander got chosen! So cool. I am so glad that Crap had the phone to take video. Awesome. What a great Dopey.

I also love musicals, and Maddie is obsessed with them. I'm with Crap though, the original cast of Wicked? And you didn't go? I'm in love with both Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, so that would have been a no brainer for me. We had tickets to see the touring version in Chicago, but DH got really sick so we had to skip it. I've read the book and love it. Rent is hands-down my favorite. I always tease Bryan that Taye Diggs and Jesse L. Martin are my celebrity crushes. They're hot! and they sing! Plus, Jesse L. is on one of my favorite shows (Law and Order). Swoon. We took Maddie to a kids' theater this year, and she was in heaven. I'm excited that we'll be closer to the city now and can take her more often. She insists that we see all of the "musicals" at Disney too--especially BaTB and VoLM.

Can't wait to find out more!

It was so awesome when I saw Xander on that stage. I am sure the other six families were excited too. Thankfully, we got some video. It still bums me out that we did not get pictures or a better quality video. You have to be prepared with you camera anytime while at Disney. Magical moments can arise when you least suspect them.

Maddie is already into musicals. Smart kid. Love for the theatre only grows as you get older, so she will probably be a HUGE fan by the time she is our age. Yes, I really messed up by telling him I did not want to see Wicked. If the budget allowed, we could have seen that as well. We had to choose between the tried and true or a brand new play. He never told me Kristin or Idina were in the play to my recollection. The show had just opened the year before we were there, and I had not heard too much about it. Unfortunately, I never even took the time to Google it. I've learned my lesson on that well. Now, I always do my research.

I love Jesse Martin too. Even though I like SVU better, I watched a lot of episodes of Law and Order with him in it. His voice is amazing. Taye Diggs is a beautiful man. No one can blame you for noticing. Idina claimed him a long time ago though.

That is awesome that you take Maddie to see the theatre. Xander likes it, but does not love it. Mary Poppins opens here tomorrow, but we cannot see it. We are saving for Disneyland. Wicked will be here in August. Last time we saw it was before Xander was ever born. We are going to get a sitter for Connor and take Xander to see it. Hopefully, he will love it. He was not into the last show he show, Viva Elvis by Cirque. We saw Love by Cirque recently, and he was mad that we did not bring him.

 

[MrsTeddy]

"My maybe usually means yes!" OMG Xander you made me chuckle! What a cutie! Logan woudl probably tell you that his mommy's maybe usually means no!!

I love the video! I'm so glad you at least got that! What a cutie!! WE have a large DSLR camera but I think we are going to take a small point and shoot for moments like this! PErhaps he's destined for broadway himself!

Sounds like everything is going so well, your making me want to start planning my NEXT vacation!

 

[mvf-m11c]

I am confused by your apology for Crap's name, so I think it may not have been conveyed the way I wanted to. Sorry. When I first noticed CrapBag posting to this thread, I was not 100% sure if it was my DH. He was very clear that he would never get a DIS account and read my previous TR through lurking without ever logging in. The first time I saw him after I noticed it, I asked him if he was CrapBag. He laughed and tried to play it off. Xander thought I was calling his Dad a crap bag!!! It was very confusing for him.

The backstory on the name is that he will not let me mention his real name anywhere on the DIS. His name is unique. He may be the only person with that first and last name combination. Since everyone on the DIS already knows our last name, Medina, he will not let me mention his first name. There are so many people with my name that when you google it, you cannot even find me. At first, he did not want me to show pictures of him or mention him at all. Eventually, he agreed to let me use his pictures and mention him. We are huge Friends fans. Mike insisted that Phoebe call him Crap Bag if she changed her name to Princess Consuela Banana Hammock. Neither ever changed their names after that. DH insisted I call him Crap Bag then if I ever mentioned him. The dumb name was his idea that he ripped off from Friends. He laughed like crazy when he said I had to call him that, so he thinks he's funny.

I am so over MW3 being played in my living room every night. The living room TV is the best, so he has to play it in there. That is why I went from being on the DIS once in a while to being on it a lot. At least we both get to do something we individually enjoy.

Disney tied the show at Animators Palate with dinner very well. It was very seamless. The show does not start until everyone is seated and has ordered. By the time dinner arrives, the show has wrapped. We wanted to get picked. Maybe, we will get selected next time.

I love that Xander got to go onstage for The Golden Mickeys, but I think he loved it even more. He really enjoyed it.

I thought that you said that CrapBag was your DH. That's why I said that. I would guess that it must be your DH since he like to be known on the boards as Crap on your TR's. I would say that it must have been confusing for Xander.

So that is how he wants to be known as CrapBag on the threads from the television series show Friends. Just like him which he doesn't like to show his face on the TR's. I barely show any pics of me or any of my group for any of our TR's because they don't want to be shown in the TR. I try to get myself in the pictures, but I am mostly taking all the pics that are shown on my TR. If they do have Photopass at CL/BVS (which I would assume that they will have it for the sneak peak) then I will try to get my DA and I to be in some of them during our visit next month. Glad to hear that Crap let you put your family photos on the TR and share it with the rest of us.

I can understand that you don't want to play MW3 with Crap. Everyone has something they like to do and that is what he like to do while you are with us on the boards.

Nice to hear that the show is just as authentic as the ones at the parks. At least while you are waiting for dinner, the show will be going on. It would have been nice to get picked.

That is neat that Xander like being on stage for The Golden Mickeys.

 

[Maestra99]

Sorry to hear about your dizziness issues. But I'm glad that the woozy feeling didn't deter you from carrying on and enjoying your cruise! Also, good to know about Dramamine and nursing! I would've never known it was not recommended.

That is so cool about Xander being in the show. He has had so many amazing memories throughout this trip! It's a pretty sweet way to celebrate a birthday, that's for sure!

 

[kmedina]

"My maybe usually means yes!" OMG Xander you made me chuckle! What a cutie! Logan woudl probably tell you that his mommy's maybe usually means no!!

I love the video! I'm so glad you at least got that! What a cutie!! WE have a large DSLR camera but I think we are going to take a small point and shoot for moments like this! PErhaps he's destined for broadway himself!

Sounds like everything is going so well, your making me want to start planning my NEXT vacation!

My maybe usually means no too. It was the first time I ever heard him say that, so it really made me laugh. I've heard it since.

Thanks. Even though the quality is not great, it is better than nothing. I would love to see Xander on broadway some day. That would be awesome.

I think a lot of people will be planning cruises by the time this wraps.

I thought that you said that CrapBag was your DH. That's why I said that. I would guess that it must be your DH since he like to be known on the boards as Crap on your TR's. I would say that it must have been confusing for Xander.

So that is how he wants to be known as CrapBag on the threads from the television series show Friends. Just like him which he doesn't like to show his face on the TR's. I barely show any pics of me or any of my group for any of our TR's because they don't want to be shown in the TR. I try to get myself in the pictures, but I am mostly taking all the pics that are shown on my TR. If they do have Photopass at CL/BVS (which I would assume that they will have it for the sneak peak) then I will try to get my DA and I to be in some of them during our visit next month. Glad to hear that Crap let you put your family photos on the TR and share it with the rest of us.

I can understand that you don't want to play MW3 with Crap. Everyone has something they like to do and that is what he like to do while you are with us on the boards.

Nice to hear that the show is just as authentic as the ones at the parks. At least while you are waiting for dinner, the show will be going on. It would have been nice to get picked.

That is neat that Xander like being on stage for The Golden Mickeys.

I asked him about creating the user CrapBag again, and he said he wanted to make sure no one else read this and stole his idea for that name. Like that was going to happen.

Crap is pretty private, and I share too much according to him. He takes most of our pictures, so he is in the least anyway. I wanted to include the family ones, so I am glad he let me.

I would much rather be with everyone here on the DIS than with the online MW3 community. We have more things in common.

Crush never disappoints whether on land or sea. It was great.

Xander loved being on stage. I may need to find some drama classes here. My niece's are in a club through their school. We are actually going to watch a play for them later this afternoon.

Sorry to hear about your dizziness issues. But I'm glad that the woozy feeling didn't deter you from carrying on and enjoying your cruise! Also, good to know about Dramamine and nursing! I would've never known it was not recommended.

That is so cool about Xander being in the show. He has had so many amazing memories throughout this trip! It's a pretty sweet way to celebrate a birthday, that's for sure!

I have been dealing with the dizziness for over a year and a half now or over a year at the time of the cruise. It gets the worst when I am really active. Everything was back to the way it is at home with little activity after dinner that night. To my knowledge, I do not even remember a warning about breastfeeding on the bottle. Crap likes to look on the Internet before I take anything, so I am glad he did.

He said being on stage was his favorite thing from the cruise, so he really did enjoy it. I hope he remembers the highlights. My favorite part of the entire trip was how special he felt. Since his brother was born, he does not get all our of attention anymore. Sometimes that is hard for him. We went out of our way to make this trip mostly about him.

 

[dara00]

I love Rent too! my husband doesn't like it though. we did see the lion king on broadway also, I liked it but thought it was very different from a usual broadway show - not that that's necessarily a bad thing!

 

[kmedina]

I love Rent too! my husband doesn't like it though. we did see the lion king on broadway also, I liked it but thought it was very different from a usual broadway show - not that that's necessarily a bad thing!

Your husband is the first person I've heard of who did not like Rent. We even took my husband's little brother (who loves heavy music) and he loved it. The Lion King on Broadway was not bad, it was just nowhere near as good as the touring cast of Wicked. I wish I could have seen Idina and Krisitin in it.

 

[Imagineer5]

Wow, the ship is just so gorgeous. The Golden Mickey's show sounds like SO much fun, even more so for you guys to get that surprise up on stage! How neat!

The Wave phones are really cool, I've heard about them before and think it's a really fantastic idea! I love that the kid's clubs can keep in contact with yuo that way too. too bad about how awful the strollers are, I wonder if Disney ever did charge for them and then got too many complaints? Nice that they are free...though it doesn't sound like it was really worth it. I can't believe they don't even fit through the door. That'd make me MAD if Aria was sleeping and I had to wake her up to bring her into the room!

I love the idea of the fish extenders program. Thanks for explaining it - I had seen it in other threads/TRs but didn't really know what it was. That really stinks for the people that moved rooms huh!? Good to know to check that stuff.

 

[cheryllarsen]

Oh how exiciting!! I still remember my first cruise!

 

[kmedina]

Wow, the ship is just so gorgeous. The Golden Mickey's show sounds like SO much fun, even more so for you guys to get that surprise up on stage! How neat!

The Wave phones are really cool, I've heard about them before and think it's a really fantastic idea! I love that the kid's clubs can keep in contact with yuo that way too. too bad about how awful the strollers are, I wonder if Disney ever did charge for them and then got too many complaints? Nice that they are free...though it doesn't sound like it was really worth it. I can't believe they don't even fit through the door. That'd make me MAD if Aria was sleeping and I had to wake her up to bring her into the room!

I love the idea of the fish extenders program. Thanks for explaining it - I had seen it in other threads/TRs but didn't really know what it was. That really stinks for the people that moved rooms huh!? Good to know to check that stuff.

The ship is more beautiful in person than I ever imagined, inside and out. We loved the Golden Mickeys. Xander's on stage moment is something none of us will ever forget.

The wave phones really came in handy a few times. They were nice things to have while at sea. I am nore sure if they ever had a charge before, since I had never read anything about that prior to our cruise. If there was, I see why they stopped charging. It would have upset me if I paid to rent a stroller that did not work. We were shocked that the ship's stroller did not even fit through the door. Disney really needs to replace their stock. I would rather pay to rent a stroller than use one for free that barely works.

The Fish Extenders program was a lot of fun. People really thought of things that I did not. While we did not use most of it on the ship, there were a few things that came in handy. That alone was worth it. I am glad you found that part imformative. Hopefully, everyone finds it helpful rather than boring. It did stink that people changed rooms at the last minute. I wish I would have known.

Oh how exiciting!! I still remember my first cruise!

I will never forget our first cruise either. It was an amazing experience that I cannot wait to repeat.

 

[CandleontheWater]

Wow, so far your cruise experience sounds amazing, and its only the first day! My brother and his wife are devoted Disney cruise fans, but DH and I haven't done it yet. Reading cruise TR is making it very hard to resist booking one!

Xander was adorable on stage- what an awesome memory! I'm so glad you were able to catch some video!

 

[kmedina]

Wow, so far your cruise experience sounds amazing, and its only the first day! My brother and his wife are devoted Disney cruise fans, but DH and I haven't done it yet. Reading cruise TR is making it very hard to resist booking one!

Xander was adorable on stage- what an awesome memory! I'm so glad you were able to catch some video!

It really was amazing. Crusing has so many things I enjoy, like theatre, fine dining, relaxing, swimming, and much more. I really believe that anyone who is on the fence will be booking by the end. Hopefully, I can read your trip report from when you go.

Thanks. It was such an awesome memory that we will all remember. There was one more from our final morning that was pretty awesome too.

 

[franandaj]

Since I only own about 12 pairs of shoes, I do not currently own one.

I might have more than this, but I only wear about 4-5 pairs. The rest are in my closet just waiting for me to get rid of them since I never wear them. This made me laugh!

 

[kmedina]

I might have more than this, but I only wear about 4-5 pairs. The rest are in my closet just waiting for me to get rid of them since I never wear them. This made me laugh!

I've had conversations with friends about shoes. Since everyone I've ever talked to about shoes has owned more than I do, I get why some people would buy more shoe storage. Actively, I wear about 3-4 pairs. We have a shoe rack near the door. The other 8-9 pairs are stored out of the way and only brought out as needed. Two pairs are heels, which rarely come out. My dressy flats get more use. If I had more shoes, I would probably own a shoe hanger. That said, I will buy one before our next cruise. I've read they come in handy for storing other things. Crap owns more shoes than I do. Xander owns more active pairs of shoes than I do.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey]

I can't believe I missed the infamous CrapBag!
It's crazy all the things you've done and it's still only the first day. So exciting that Xander got chosen to be Dopey. The kids meals look awesome and Crush going and interacting with the diners, it just seems like so much fun.

Sorry to hear about your dizzy spells. I remember having bad dizzy spells during our first trip to WDW. I don't know if it was from altitude change or what, but never had it after that first trip.

I love that room service is included in the price of the cruise. I would totally take advantage of that. I agree that it would feel kind of akward not to leave tips until the end of the trip. I know they'll get the money eventually, I guess I would feel guilty.

I must admit, I am a google freak. Being a first time mom, I have found myself googling everything since the day I found out I was pregnant.

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the cruise.

 

[kmedina]

I can't believe I missed the infamous CrapBag!
It's crazy all the things you've done and it's still only the first day. So exciting that Xander got chosen to be Dopey. The kids meals look awesome and Crush going and interacting with the diners, it just seems like so much fun.

Sorry to hear about your dizzy spells. I remember having bad dizzy spells during our first trip to WDW. I don't know if it was from altitude change or what, but never had it after that first trip.

I love that room service is included in the price of the cruise. I would totally take advantage of that. I agree that it would feel kind of akward not to leave tips until the end of the trip. I know they'll get the money eventually, I guess I would feel guilty.

I must admit, I am a google freak. Being a first time mom, I have found myself googling everything since the day I found out I was pregnant.

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the cruise.

I still cannot believe Crap Bag created a DIS account.

Even though we got a lot done the first day and the ship is large, it seemed so relaxing. Each day got a little more relaxing too. The kids meals looked fancier on ship than any signature restaurant at WDW. Xander enjoyed the taste a lot too. Between seeing Crush then Xander being on stage, it was an amazing evening.

My dizzy spells are only recently starting to get a little better. I am hoping to seriously get back to the gym soon.

Not tipping right away really is a different experience. We want to order room service next time just so we can experience free room service. It really is a cool feature of crusing. Room service gets immediate tips as well, so it will be a little bit of normalcy.

I can be a Google freak with some things but not with others. Crap and my sister are Google freaks on everything, so I am used to it. This time, his Googling was really a good thing, so I am glad.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Good news about the dizzy spells!

 

[kmedina]

Good news about the dizzy spells!

Thanks. I hope it just keeps getting better.

 

[jedijill]

Just caught up with both your reports.

I love musicals too...just saw Wicked the other day in Denver. My friend ran into Kristen Chenowith at dinner about a month before....she has family here in town....I was soooo jealous! I didn't particularly like Rent either...I got it but I guess I like my musicals a little happier.

Great report and your boys are adorable. I just spent the weekend with my almost 5 yo nephew (birthday is in 3 weeks) and can totally picture Xavier through the whole trip.

Jill in CO

 

[kmedina]

Just caught up with both your reports.

I love musicals too...just saw Wicked the other day in Denver. My friend ran into Kristen Chenowith at dinner about a month before....she has family here in town....I was soooo jealous! I didn't particularly like Rent either...I got it but I guess I like my musicals a little happier.

Great report and your boys are adorable. I just spent the weekend with my almost 5 yo nephew (birthday is in 3 weeks) and can totally picture Xavier through the whole trip.

Jill in CO

to the cruise portion of the trip.

We are excited to see Wicked when it comes here in August. Kristin Chenoweth seems pretty cool. How neat for your friend. I love Rent so much and probably know every lyric by heart. Prior to this thread, I had never even heard of anyone not liking it. Now, I know a few. It makes sense though as I am sure no play has a 100% positive review.

Thank you. My nieces were here for part of the weekend. Girls are so different than boys. That is nice you had some time with your nephew. Xander had an excellent time and behaved pretty well most of the trip. There were only a few small hiccups at Disneyworld and one slight meltdown on the cruise, which will be in the very next update. There was another incident on our last morning, but Crap and I saw that more as a cute thing than a meltdown. Connor never really had any issues on either. He really was an easy kid to travel with. Other than some diaper blowouts (which all babies have), every other issue was solved very quickly.