ª"˜˜ª¤.¸Official Team August 2013 Thread!¸.¤ª˜˜"ª&#9733

[ThereYouSeeHer]

We got to the port around 11:00, used the Castaway Club check-in line, which had no wait, and walked on the ship. We had a PAT of 11:00-11:30 and were boarding group 3. So when people tell you you are an obsessive planner, just smile and know you are doing a good thing - getting up at midnight 90 days prior to check-in and request an early boarding time worked! We had the pool deck to ourselves for quite a while!

Yay, thanks for sharing! I agree about getting an early PAT. We have had great success with getting on the ship early and eating at Cabanas while it is still empty. Can't beat that! And how sweet that he celebrated two birthdays, so far apart in years, yet at the same restaurant on different ships. If that's not Disney magic, I don't know what is!

 

[joshsmom]

Ok, I will keep this short since this isn't a TR thread, but for those of you wanting to pass the time, here's a brief recap of our weekend, and I will try to post a link for pictures at the bottom if you need more of a fix :

We had a great time on our cruise, and it was such a great Disney fix! Everything went perfectly except our inbound flight, which was delayed because of weather. But it was ok....all we were going to do was head to our room at the Hyatt MCO and sleep until morning. We got in around 2 am and the very nice Hyatt people upgraded us to a suite, which was enormous and had three bathrooms, which was heaven sent since we were going to be operating on much less sleep than we thought - having three bathrooms for the morning was a great time saver! We used the luggage transfer service, so we tagged our bags (like you do for DME) and left them in our room and crossed our fingers we'd see them on the ship It's funny because just reading the QOTD about DME, I never worried about missing luggage with them...figured they'd get it to me eventually. But if the bags missed the ship, that would be a problem!

Anyway, it all went fine - they arrived safe and sound and early! So we headed off to have breakfast and at about 9:50 got on line for the bus. We got to the port around 11:00, used the Castaway Club check-in line, which had no wait, and walked on the ship. We had a PAT of 11:00-11:30 and were boarding group 3. So when people tell you you are an obsessive planner, just smile and know you are doing a good thing - getting up at midnight 90 days prior to check-in and request an early boarding time worked! We had the pool deck to ourselves for quite a while!

We had lunch, checked out the kids' clubs, rode the aquaduck, swam and then got ready for dinner. We saw the Golden Mickeys and then ate at the Enchanted Garden.

In Nassau, we did a walking tour that I had printed from a google search. It turned out to be a great experience. Back on board we had massages, the boys went off and did their thing - sometimes in the Edge and Vibe clubs, sometimes on their own. Dinner was at the Royal Palace that night and was wonderful (actually all the food was amazing - much better than other cruise lines). This was also pirate night and we had a great time with Jack Sparrow! The pirate party was fun and the fireworks were fantastic!

The next morning we hit Castaway Cay. My DW, DS 12 and I ran the 5k, which was fun! It was also hot and I normally don't eat or drink like I'm on a cruise the night before I run lol, but it was still all good. The weather was perfect, and we had such a great time on CC. We relaxed, swam, the boys snorkled, played soccer, enjoyed Pelican Plunge and then we all did the sting ray experience. It was such a perfect day. That night we were at Animator's Palate and celebrated DS (now 17)'s bday. He celebrated his 4th birthday at AP on the Wonder and now his 17th at AP on Dream. It was very sweet Before dinner we saw Believe and were all piles of Disney mush by the end

The next morning disembarkation was a breeze after breakfast and we took the Budget shuttle to get our car. This was also a breeze as there was no one on line when we got there. We headed to DTD and were walking in by 11:00 (we had 8:00 breakfast and disembarked around 9, so not bad time wise). We were soooooooo excited to be on Disney property We hit the West Side and walked and shopped our way back. Then we ate at T-Rex (no ADR, just walked up). Ok, this was a first and a last I don't know if I'm just getting old or my kids have grown up a bit from their Rainforest days, but wow, it was LOUD. The food was very good though. And if you have younger kids into dinosaurs, it's fantastic! Just not for me anymore

After I decided a nice quiet boat ride would be in order. We took the boat to POFQ, just to enhance my happiness . We walked around, had beignets at the food court and then took the boat back and finished shopping in the MP. Oh, and speaking of shopping, I am in TROUBLE. Serious trouble. I think on our last trip I had been so many times in a short period that the merchandise was a little tired to me. But now it's been a couple of years and there's new stuff out there and I want it all I did splurge on the cruise and got a Dooney bag and a chamilia charm for my bracelet. So at DTD I was good - just a t-shirt and mug, but my boys got our Mother's Day gifts that day, so I made out well ;-).

We headed back to MCO, returned the car and got ready to head home. It was a quick trip, but so well worth it. The boys are ECSTATIC for our August trip now - they were excited but hadn't gotten really into the planning. Now they are all about it - should make for a fun summer of anticipation! I'm so glad I decided to do it!

Here's a link to my Photobucket album if anyone wants to see pics:

http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/ccookie49/library/Disney Dream Cruise 2013

I LOVED reading this!! Thanks for posting! SO GLAD you had such a wonderful trip!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Ok, I will keep this short since this isn't a TR thread, but for those of you wanting to pass the time, here's a brief recap of our weekend, and I will try to post a link for pictures at the bottom if you need more of a fix

Awesome report! And your photos were fantastic .

 

[thetorit]

QOTD: Do you do routine household stuff like laundry and cooking while you're on your trip or do you prefer that to be left at home since you're on vacation?

My OCD brain thinks weird. In my head, I pack clean clothes and take them on vacation and when I get there, they're still clean so I wear them and put them back in the bag. But if I washed them while on vacation, even if I didn't wear them again, they would be "dirty" when I get home, so I'd have to wash them again.
My OCD affects a lot of things like that, so I won't do laundry there OR have Mousekeeping clean up the room. It's just one of those things that would trigger my brain into panic mode! (I guess it also saves some tip $$)
We will have GG deliver some milk for the baby... well, toddler by then , and some breakfast-type foods. I guarantee my 4 year old will still be half asleep when we stroll out the door every morning, but a bag of cheerios gets her through pretty much anything whenever she decides to come to.

 

[squirrel4569]

Here's a link to my Photobucket album if anyone wants to see pics:

http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/ccookie49/library/Disney Dream Cruise 2013

Sounds like you had a great trip! I can't wait until I get home and can enjoy the pictures.

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

My OCD affects a lot of things like that, so I won't do laundry there OR have Mousekeeping clean up the room. It's just one of those things that would trigger my brain into panic mode! (I guess it also saves some tip $$).

I also prefer not to have mousekeeping come through. I don't like having to move my stuff around or have it be moved. I'm also concerned I'll forget to lock something up and then worry about it all day when we are out. I usually relent when DH wants fresh towels and a mid-vacation room spruce-up. Otherwise, we generally go as long as we can without it!

 

[squirrel4569]

My OCD brain thinks weird. In my head, I pack clean clothes and take them on vacation and when I get there, they're still clean so I wear them and put them back in the bag. But if I washed them while on vacation, even if I didn't wear them again, they would be "dirty" when I get home, so I'd have to wash them again.
My OCD affects a lot of things like that, so I won't do laundry there OR have Mousekeeping clean up the room. It's just one of those things that would trigger my brain into panic mode! (I guess it also saves some tip $$)
We will have GG deliver some milk for the baby... well, toddler by then , and some breakfast-type foods. I guarantee my 4 year old will still be half asleep when we stroll out the door every morning, but a bag of cheerios gets her through pretty much anything whenever she decides to come to.

Isn't it funny how if you have a housekeeper at your home or hotel you have to clean before they come to clean?

I'm still debating on GG. The $40 minimum and $15 delivery fee make it very expensive to just get a couple of things.

I also prefer not to have mousekeeping come through. I don't like having to move my stuff around or have it be moved. I'm also concerned I'll forget to lock something up and then worry about it all day when we are out. I usually relent when DH wants fresh towels and a mid-vacation room spruce-up. Otherwise, we generally go as long as we can without it!

I'm the same way. I got a bunch of stuff stolen from my hotel when I was traveling on business in Seattle and have since opted for a policy of no housekeeping. It drives my wife crazy. At Disney though they will typically leave a bag of towels and such on the door if you have the DND sign up, which is nice. Get the essentials and keep the people out of my room. On the last trip my wife wanted them to come a couple of times so we took all of the valuable stuff and put it into our car. We're flying this time so we won't have that luxury, but also will travel a bit lighter as well.

 

[B's Marie]

QOTD: Do you do routine household stuff like laundry and cooking while you're on your trip or do you prefer that to be left at home since you're on vacation?/QUOTE]

NO cooking or laundry (unless absolutely necessary) for us on vacation. Lots of laundry upon return, but a week without any...

 

[Disneyforus]

So excited we were able to get the BOG dining reservation you cancelled! You helped make my day "magical"!!

 

[Mrs. M. Mouse]

QOTD: Do you do routine household stuff like laundry and cooking while you're on your trip or do you prefer that to be left at home since you're on vacation?

For me personally I prefer to leave cooking and cleaning up to others while I'm on vacation. The ability to have laundry facilities in the event of an accident (which happens when traveling with children) is a nice thing, but we don't tend to pack/plan to do laundry while we're traveling. We've tried doing some in-room eating and that winds up being a huge hassle as our kids have the uncanny ability to spill everything at just about the worst possible time.

We plan on laundry while we're there, due to the pay per baggage for most airlines we only bring one bag each with an extra bag packed for all the souvenirs on the way home, it gets pricy with 4 of us, cooking i like to leave for someone else but this time we'll be picking up breakfast items for in room.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

So excited we were able to get the BOG dining reservation you cancelled! You helped make my day "magical"!!

Yay!! So happy to spread a little pixie dust!

 

[disneylovinfamily]

We just booked a last minute August trip. We were going to wait until next May but with some yard sale selling and military discount, we are going this August too!!!!

We are staying at Art of Animation (8/18-8/23) but thinking of adding an extra night to that on the end.---hoping for a Cars suite but with military discount they wont let you pick but we have it noted on our ressie.

It will be: me , DH , DD(10) , DS(7) , DS(1), DMIL and DFIL .

Plus it is DH's birthday on the 23rd!

No dining ressies yet. I am sure we will do mostly counter service since this trip will be on the cheap but I am hoping for somewhere nice for birthday night. Need to get on that ASAP!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We just booked a last minute August trip. We were going to wait until next May but with some yard sale selling and military discount, we are going this August too!!!!

We are staying at Art of Animation (8/18-8/23) but thinking of adding an extra night to that on the end.---hoping for a Cars suite but with military discount they wont let you pick but we have it noted on our ressie.

It will be: me , DH , DD(10) , DS(7) , DS(1), DMIL and DFIL .

Plus it is DH's birthday on the 23rd!

No dining ressies yet. I am sure we will do mostly counter service since this trip will be on the cheap but I am hoping for somewhere nice for birthday night. Need to get on that ASAP!

to our group!

 

[flnngn2]

QOTD: Do you do routine household stuff like laundry and cooking while you're on your trip or do you prefer that to be left at home since you're on vacation?

For me personally I prefer to leave cooking and cleaning up to others while I'm on vacation. The ability to have laundry facilities in the event of an accident (which happens when traveling with children) is a nice thing, but we don't tend to pack/plan to do laundry while we're traveling. We've tried doing some in-room eating and that winds up being a huge hassle as our kids have the uncanny ability to spill everything at just about the worst possible time.

My rule is No Cooking,No Cleaning, No Laundry on vacation (or Mothers Day or my birthday). I'm glad we're flying Jet Blue so we can bring 4 suitcases

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[thetorit]

We just booked a last minute August trip. We were going to wait until next May but with some yard sale selling and military discount, we are going this August too!!!!

We are staying at Art of Animation (8/18-8/23) but thinking of adding an extra night to that on the end.---hoping for a Cars suite but with military discount they wont let you pick but we have it noted on our ressie.

It will be: me , DH , DD(10) , DS(7) , DS(1), DMIL and DFIL .

Plus it is DH's birthday on the 23rd!

No dining ressies yet. I am sure we will do mostly counter service since this trip will be on the cheap but I am hoping for somewhere nice for birthday night. Need to get on that ASAP!

We have the military discount and were able to pick a Cars room. It was between Cars and Lion King, I'm not sure if Finding Nemo wasn't available or just not part of the military rate, but Cars was def an option. It might be worth asking a different cast member if you REALLY want it?

 

[pigletto]

Ok, I will keep this short since this isn't a TR thread, but for those of you wanting to pass the time, here's a brief recap of our weekend, and I will try to post a link for pictures at the bottom if you need more of a fix :

We had a great time on our cruise, and it was such a great Disney fix! Everything went perfectly except our inbound flight, which was delayed because of weather. But it was ok....all we were going to do was head to our room at the Hyatt MCO and sleep until morning. We got in around 2 am and the very nice Hyatt people upgraded us to a suite, which was enormous and had three bathrooms, which was heaven sent since we were going to be operating on much less sleep than we thought - having three bathrooms for the morning was a great time saver! We used the luggage transfer service, so we tagged our bags (like you do for DME) and left them in our room and crossed our fingers we'd see them on the ship It's funny because just reading the QOTD about DME, I never worried about missing luggage with them...figured they'd get it to me eventually. But if the bags missed the ship, that would be a problem!

Anyway, it all went fine - they arrived safe and sound and early! So we headed off to have breakfast and at about 9:50 got on line for the bus. We got to the port around 11:00, used the Castaway Club check-in line, which had no wait, and walked on the ship. We had a PAT of 11:00-11:30 and were boarding group 3. So when people tell you you are an obsessive planner, just smile and know you are doing a good thing - getting up at midnight 90 days prior to check-in and request an early boarding time worked! We had the pool deck to ourselves for quite a while!

We had lunch, checked out the kids' clubs, rode the aquaduck, swam and then got ready for dinner. We saw the Golden Mickeys and then ate at the Enchanted Garden.

In Nassau, we did a walking tour that I had printed from a google search. It turned out to be a great experience. Back on board we had massages, the boys went off and did their thing - sometimes in the Edge and Vibe clubs, sometimes on their own. Dinner was at the Royal Palace that night and was wonderful (actually all the food was amazing - much better than other cruise lines). This was also pirate night and we had a great time with Jack Sparrow! The pirate party was fun and the fireworks were fantastic!

The next morning we hit Castaway Cay. My DW, DS 12 and I ran the 5k, which was fun! It was also hot and I normally don't eat or drink like I'm on a cruise the night before I run lol, but it was still all good. The weather was perfect, and we had such a great time on CC. We relaxed, swam, the boys snorkled, played soccer, enjoyed Pelican Plunge and then we all did the sting ray experience. It was such a perfect day. That night we were at Animator's Palate and celebrated DS (now 17)'s bday. He celebrated his 4th birthday at AP on the Wonder and now his 17th at AP on Dream. It was very sweet Before dinner we saw Believe and were all piles of Disney mush by the end

The next morning disembarkation was a breeze after breakfast and we took the Budget shuttle to get our car. This was also a breeze as there was no one on line when we got there. We headed to DTD and were walking in by 11:00 (we had 8:00 breakfast and disembarked around 9, so not bad time wise). We were soooooooo excited to be on Disney property We hit the West Side and walked and shopped our way back. Then we ate at T-Rex (no ADR, just walked up). Ok, this was a first and a last I don't know if I'm just getting old or my kids have grown up a bit from their Rainforest days, but wow, it was LOUD. The food was very good though. And if you have younger kids into dinosaurs, it's fantastic! Just not for me anymore

After I decided a nice quiet boat ride would be in order. We took the boat to POFQ, just to enhance my happiness . We walked around, had beignets at the food court and then took the boat back and finished shopping in the MP. Oh, and speaking of shopping, I am in TROUBLE. Serious trouble. I think on our last trip I had been so many times in a short period that the merchandise was a little tired to me. But now it's been a couple of years and there's new stuff out there and I want it all I did splurge on the cruise and got a Dooney bag and a chamilia charm for my bracelet. So at DTD I was good - just a t-shirt and mug, but my boys got our Mother's Day gifts that day, so I made out well ;-).

We headed back to MCO, returned the car and got ready to head home. It was a quick trip, but so well worth it. The boys are ECSTATIC for our August trip now - they were excited but hadn't gotten really into the planning. Now they are all about it - should make for a fun summer of anticipation! I'm so glad I decided to do it!

Here's a link to my Photobucket album if anyone wants to see pics:

http://s1279.photobucket.com/user/ccookie49/library/Disney Dream Cruise 2013

Wonderful!!!! You've made me want to take a Disney cruise!!!

And your boys look so nice. I know that sounds weird.. they just have kind faces. You must be a proud mom

 

[taymacsmom]

We just booked a last minute August trip. We were going to wait until next May but with some yard sale selling and military discount, we are going this August too!!!!

We are staying at Art of Animation (8/18-8/23) but thinking of adding an extra night to that on the end.---hoping for a Cars suite but with military discount they wont let you pick but we have it noted on our ressie.

It will be: me , DH , DD(10) , DS(7) , DS(1), DMIL and DFIL .

Plus it is DH's birthday on the 23rd!

No dining ressies yet. I am sure we will do mostly counter service since this trip will be on the cheap but I am hoping for somewhere nice for birthday night. Need to get on that ASAP!

Welcome to our group! I will be at AoA Aug 17 - 25 in the LM rooms. Maybe we'll "run" into each other!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[DMGeurts]

I could have sworn I posted my trip info here at the beginning of the thread... However, I can't be sure. Lol I am pretty active in the fb group, but I always forget this thread is here. It looks like i've missed out on a ton!

Anyways... Trip info: POFQ 8/20-8/29

Hopefully I can catch up here now.

D~

 

[pigletto]

I could have sworn I posted my trip info here at the beginning of the thread... However, I can't be sure. Lol I am pretty active in the fb group, but I always forget this thread is here. It looks like i've missed out on a ton!

Anyways... Trip info: POFQ 8/20-8/29

Hopefully I can catch up here now.

D~

I just went through some of your links. Oh my goodness you are a talented seamstress!!!!!
I am so impressed. I send out my daughters uniform pants to be hemmed!!
My sister is a quilter and does some beautiful work so I know what a labor of love these things are. I just wanted you to know how very talented I think you are!

 

[Koh1977]

I could have sworn I posted my trip info here at the beginning of the thread... However, I can't be sure. Lol I am pretty active in the fb group, but I always forget this thread is here. It looks like i've missed out on a ton!

Anyways... Trip info: POFQ 8/20-8/29

Hopefully I can catch up here now.

D~

Facebook group??

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards