12/4/11: A Very Merry Dream Come True, updated 1/10 WDW highlights, NOW COMPLETE!!

[Maddies Mama]

A Rat!!!!! I would be running too!

I should have just sprinted back to the ship. Practice for my 5k and all, right?! Gosh, that thing was huge, the size of a cat!

I'm eager to go back and read more of your TR but I just had to stop and say how cute your little one is and that I just LOVE her hair, especially the color.

Thank you!

 

[Maddies Mama]

After dropping DD off at the nursery, DH was hungry so he ran upstairs to get a quick bite to eat from the burger bar. I know we could have eaten on the island, but I like to limit DD's nursery time to roughly 2 hours for everyone's enjoyment - that seems to be her threshold before she starts to get whiny and cranky - and we wanted to maximize our time at Serenity Bay.

So he ate his burger on our way down to the gangway to head back out to the island. This time we were able to take things a little more slowly and stop and smell the roses so to speak. I noticed this sign that I hadn't noticed before.

It was really interesting to me since I'm a weather nerd!

We stopped for a few more pictures, but for some reason, they all turned out blurry! Oh well, what are you gonna do? We did get a picture of us with the ship in the background that we liked so much we ended up buying. Wish we'd have got one of these when we had DD with us

At last we were on the tram and off to the tram that would take us to Serenity Bay.

Switching to the Serenity Bay tram only took a few minutes. We were finally on our way down the airstrip that I had just run down a couple of hours beforehand. Seemed to go faster this time.

DH wanted to see what there was to eat out there but didn't find anything too interesting so we headed out to the beach after going into the food area. We walked onto the beach and wow! Just WOW!! It was GORGEOUS! I wish I could say it was the most beautiful beach I've ever been to, but it's not. It ranks 3rd. But still, WOW!!

The beach was very crowded close to where we walked in, but we saw it was virtually deserted on a little farther down, so we made our way down there, which is no easy feat with my arthritic hip joint! Ouchie!

Once we got to a point we were happy with, DH set us up a couple of chairs right where the water met the sand.

Seriously, who wouldn't want to live here for the rest of their life?

And because I love the panorama feature on my camera.

DH went and got us a couple of drinks. He was gone quite a while because there was just 1 bartender. What?? For that whole beach??

I finally had to force myself to put my camera away and just live in the moment. I kept wanting to take picture after picture because it was the perfect temperature on the perfect day on a perfect beach and I've only had 3 or 4 of those days in my whole life! I made myself put the camera down and didn't touch it again while I enjoyed the next hour to it's fullest. We relaxed, sipped on our drinks, talked and people watched.

Soon enough it was time to head back to the ship. We got DD from the nursery and went upstairs to Cabanas for a snack and then she and I headed back to the room for bathtime and a nap while DH went back out on the island for a jog.

I'll have to save pirate night for another update - gotta go live life & stuff right now

 

[dvc deernut]

HI I WAS JUST READING YOUR TRIP REPORT CHECKING YOUR PHOTOS OF SERENITY BAY TO SEE IF WE ARE IN THEM I WAS ONE OF THE FEW THAT WAS WAYYYYYYYYY OUT IN THE WATER AT MY USUAL SPOT WITH MY CAMERA. WE WERE AT SENOR FROGS IN THE AFTERNOON. THAT WAS THE ONLY REASON WE LEFT THE SHIP. WE WERE HAPPY CAMPERS COMING BACK. IT WAS SOPHIES BIRTHDAY SO WE CELEBRATED THERE. WERE YOU THERE AT NIGHT.

 

[jerseygirl74]

What a great report. We(DH, DD 5 and myself) are going on the Dream in April. Keep the report coming. I am looking forward to hearing more.

 

[Maddies Mama]

HI I WAS JUST READING YOUR TRIP REPORT CHECKING YOUR PHOTOS OF SERENITY BAY TO SEE IF WE ARE IN THEM I WAS ONE OF THE FEW THAT WAS WAYYYYYYYYY OUT IN THE WATER AT MY USUAL SPOT WITH MY CAMERA. WE WERE AT SENOR FROGS IN THE AFTERNOON. THAT WAS THE ONLY REASON WE LEFT THE SHIP. WE WERE HAPPY CAMPERS COMING BACK. IT WAS SOPHIES BIRTHDAY SO WE CELEBRATED THERE. WERE YOU THERE AT NIGHT.

So did you see yourself in the pics?? We were there at night and won't do that ever again! Once the sun goes down, I am back onboard!

What a great report. We(DH, DD 5 and myself) are going on the Dream in April. Keep the report coming. I am looking forward to hearing more.

I'm so envious of you! Have you been before or are you a first-timer? We are going to try to go again in July for the double dip at Castaway Cay if DH's tax refund allows, but I also want to go back to Vegas or to NYC or DC...plus we want to try to get to the Expedition Everest 5k on May 5th! Aye aye aye, what to do, what to do.

 

[jerseygirl74]

I'm so envious of you! Have you been before or are you a first-timer? We are going to try to go again in July for the double dip at Castaway Cay if DH's tax refund allows, but I also want to go back to Vegas or to NYC or DC...plus we want to try to get to the Expedition Everest 5k on May 5th! Aye aye aye, what to do, what to do.[/QUOTE]

We are first timers. I have always wanted to take a cruise and finally got my way. My DH doesn like boats, water or sand....so I booked a cruise (he needs to get over it). We live near NYC and go all the time....love it, but I would choose another cruise.
I am Michelle by the way.

 

[Maddies Mama]

We are first timers. I have always wanted to take a cruise and finally got my way. My DH doesn like boats, water or sand....so I booked a cruise (he needs to get over it). We live near NYC and go all the time....love it, but I would choose another cruise.
I am Michelle by the way.

Nice to "meet" you, Michelle! You are going to have an amazing time. Your husband may decide he likes it too, you never know! A Disney cruise is an experience like nothing else. I cruise Carnival quite a bit and I still love them and will continue to cruise with them, but they can't touch Disney in the excellent service and amenities they provide.

 

[Maddies Mama]

After we took a bath to wash all the sand and salt water off of us and took a nap, it was time to get ready for pirate night. DH came back to the room around 3:30 and got showered up and then we all changed into our pirate night gear.

A bit of background and a confession: I hadn't been thrilled with the idea of pirate night at all. It seemed a little weird, to be honest, but whatever. I'd try to find a Halloween shirt with a skull and crossbones to wear and call it good.

That was my plan back in July when I booked the trip. Fast forward to mid-October when a local salvage store put all of their Halloween items and costume accessories down to 80% off and all costumes were a flat $4. I originally went in looking for something for my daughter, but ended up finding a pirate costume in DH's size. I was looking for a costume of my own to wear, non-pirate, to upcoming Halloween events since we LOVE Halloween. While I was searching, it became apparent that the store had no women's costumes at all. Oh well.

So I was looking and looking through the bins of Halloween stuff and came across one lone women's costume....a pirate costume, size 8/10. I'm a size 10/12, but for $3, I will MAKE it fit, by golly. So, I bought it and it actually ended up fitting perfectly, although way short, but no problem since I have plenty of black yoga pants that I could wear with it.

So, it was official. We would be in full pirate gear for pirate night. How did that happen?? Not only did I think it was weird at first, but there I was excited about our whole family dressing up as pirates! Well, except DD. She has a sensory processing disorder and is uncomfortable with a lot of fabrics against her skin, so I had already found a cute plain cotton pirate shirt & black skirt at Target. The skirt had a little bit of tulle around it, but it wasn't itchy, so she was OK.

OK, now that I've given you more background than you ever wanted to know about our pirate costumes, let's get on with pirate night, shall we?

We had 5 bandanas left in our room for us when Ida, our steward, had come in earlier that day to freshen our room up. DH wore one on his head, DD wouldn't wear one longer than 30 seconds and I wore one on my neck and one on my wrist since I already had something on my head.

We headed out to the atrium because there were some character meet & greets starting around 4:30 I think it was? We met pirate Minnie.

One thing about my DD, she has absolutely no fear of the characters. She can hardly wait for her turn and she sprints over to them with open arms and goes right in for a hug and kiss!

By then it was a little after 5 and we headed over to the shops as they were due to open shortly after we set sail. Right as we got to the shops, they called over the intercom for Team Red Star to go to the Mickey pool or something to that effect. My heart sank, I knew that couldn't be good. It was later announced that they were in communication with the coast guard as to whether the medical emergency was going to be picked up at sea or if we would head back to Nassau so they could get off of the ship. Ultimately I think we ended up back in Nassau judging from the map on the TV and I was awakened at 4am that night from heavy vibration, I guess from pulling into or out of port there.

At any rate, we hadn't left Castaway Cay yet, so they couldn't open the shops. We hung around for a while to see if we were going to leave, but by 5:15 or so we still hadn't, so we headed up to see pirates Chip & Dale.

We tried for a family photo with them, but DD wasn't being too cooperative.

After that, it was about time for dinner, we made our way down to Animator's Palate. What a vibrant, colorful restaurant! The art reflected the pirate night theme.

As usual, the attention to detail was outstanding. Disney never disappoints when it comes to this. Our butter knife was shaped like a paintbrush and our pirate night menu was designed to look....well, piratey.

For a drink, I ordered the Rusty Anchor. It was alright, but not amazing. I started my dinner with the sun ripened pineapple. I love pineapple and this appetizer did not disappoint. Even the banana that came with it was good and I don't like bananas. I had the jerk chicken salad for the salad course and I don't remember anything outstanding about it, so I guess it was OK.

Now my memory is fuzzy. Looking at the menu, I know I either ordered the tenderloin or the short ribs. I don't remember anything extraordinary about that part of the meal, so my best guess is that it was probably just fine and unmemorable. Well clearly, since I have no memory of it LOL! My DH got the mahi mahi and said it was good.

I wasn't wild about the no-sugar-added dessert options, but I got the strawberry angel food cake and it ended up being pretty good. I don't normally like angel food cake, so I was happy.

After dinner, we headed to the room so DD could take a potty break and she was THRILLED to find that instead of regular chocolates, Ida had left us "gold doubloons!" She's a Jake & the Neverland Pirates FANATIC, so this was right up her alley.

We then headed to the shops now that they were open. We ended up losing track of time in there and ultimately ended up late to the pirate deck party. I was bummed because we weren't going to get a decent spot to watch it from, but luck was on my side!

There was nowhere good to watch the show in front of the stage or on the deck above the stage, but we ended up right at the rope on the side of the stage and essentially had a front row view. Well DH & DD did, I let some other kids stand where I would have otherwise been standing, but truthfully I was more interested in the light up grown-up beverages I kept seeing go by on the bar staff with trays full of them I wandered around and took some pictures while DH & DD watched the show from their spot on the side.

After the deck party, we just sort of wandered around until it was time for fireworks. We ended up spending a lot of time in the D lounge. There was a kids dance party going on in there and then some sort of pirate game show that we stayed for, but would have been more interesting if either a. I was 12 years old or b. had actually kicked back a couple of those light up drinks I'd seen up on the deck

Naw, in all seriousness, the game show wasn't that bad. Would have been a lot cuter if DD was old enough to participate, but the kids who did do it seemed to be having a blast.

We headed once again to the atrium so DD could meet pirate Stitch.

It was finally time to head up for the fireworks. I finally caved and bought an overpriced light up drink. I really like it though, it made a nice souvenir! I had first asked what was in it and he started off with "it's made with midori, blah blah blah blah blah." I was sold after Midori. It's my fave!

The fireworks started shortly after.

It turns out, the fireworks setting on my camera is awful and I found out at Illuminations a few nights later that the plain old normal setting for picture taking actually works best for fireworks.

We headed straight for bed after the fireworks. We'd all had a long, fun, exhausting day and by that time, Castaway Cay had already felt like it was a million miles away and at least 2 weeks ago. Funny what that salty sea air does to your brain

Join me next time for our mostly uneventful (except for a morning surprise that jolted us out of bed), but relaxing day at sea, including the Disney Jr dance party with Pluto and dinner at Palo.

 

[mjbradeis]

Great TR, I love the sign about Hurricane Irene on CC must have missed that on our cruise. I am in Emergency Management and worked Hurricane Irene, and have been to the National Hurricane Center for training. Would have been cool to get my picture with that sign!

 

[Amy162]

I am loving your trip report. We will be on the Dream on Jan 15 and can't wait!

And now I am so happy to see Pirate Stitch!! Stitch is my youngest daughter's FAVORITE character, and the shirt I made her for pirate night has pirate Stitch on it! I can't wait for her to see him!!! I think I will surprise her with that one, she has no idea that he appears dressed as a pirate! When she saw him at AK on one of our last trips, she was in tears she was so excited!

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us all!

 

[Maddies Mama]

Great TR, I love the sign about Hurricane Irene on CC must have missed that on our cruise. I am in Emergency Management and worked Hurricane Irene, and have been to the National Hurricane Center for training. Would have been cool to get my picture with that sign!

That is awesome, I would love a job with an EMA! The sign was right down the walkway to the first tram stop after you got off of the ship. I missed it the first time I went out but then again we were walking so fast to get to the 5k starting point that everything went by in a blur

I am loving your trip report. We will be on the Dream on Jan 15 and can't wait!

And now I am so happy to see Pirate Stitch!! Stitch is my youngest daughter's FAVORITE character, and the shirt I made her for pirate night has pirate Stitch on it! I can't wait for her to see him!!! I think I will surprise her with that one, she has no idea that he appears dressed as a pirate! When she saw him at AK on one of our last trips, she was in tears she was so excited!

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us all!

I was also hoping there would be a pirate Stitch! We went to WDW last February-March and DD's favorite character was Stitch that trip. So we were excited to see him again, but this trip she decided Chip & Dale were her new favorites. Go figure! At least she got to see them plenty of times. We did end up seeing Stitch again after the cruise when we went to MK one day and we had the cutest little interaction with him. He's such a fun, silly character. I can see why he's her fave! He'll be stoked to see the Stitch shirt, I'm sure

 

[jenseib]

I love your firework pictures. I supposedly know what I am doing and took awful ones. LOL

 

[OurDogCisco]

Love your trip report!!! The pictures of Serendity Bay look heavenly. Also, love the lobby picture on the day of Castaway. Beautiful... Next, time I want Animator's Palatte on Pirate night love how they decorated the place. We were in Royal Palace.

Can't wait to read the rest...

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

70]Love your trip report!!! The pictures of Serendity Bay look heavenly. Also, love the lobby picture on the day of Castaway. Beautiful... [/B]Next, time I want Animator's Palatte on Pirate night love how they decorated the place. We were in Royal Palace.

Can't wait to read the rest...

It was cool wasn't it. I'm almost sorry I didn't ask for a rotation that had AP on Pirate Night.

 

[my2disneyboys]

Great update!!! I think Pirate night looks cute! How much time is there between the show and the fireworks? I am thinking we will be hanging with our boys in D lounge quite a bit!

 

[jenseib]

Great update!!! I think Pirate night looks cute! How much time is there between the show and the fireworks? I am thinking we will be hanging with our boys in D lounge quite a bit!

I think when we sailed the Dream, the show was around 8ish and the fireworks 10ish?

 

[Maddies Mama]

I love your firework pictures. I supposedly know what I am doing and took awful ones. LOL

I do think they turned out sort of neat, but they just didn't seem to capture the true essence of them! I got much better ones in WDW.

Love your trip report!!! The pictures of Serendity Bay look heavenly. Also, love the lobby picture on the day of Castaway. Beautiful... Next, time I want Animator's Palatte on Pirate night love how they decorated the place. We were in Royal Palace.

Can't wait to read the rest...

It was cool wasn't it. I'm almost sorry I didn't ask for a rotation that had AP on Pirate Night.

I definitely enjoyed AP on pirate night, but wish I would have had another rotation because I wanted to experience AP on a normal dining night, but we booked Palo for that night. Oh well, next time!

Great update!!! I think Pirate night looks cute! How much time is there between the show and the fireworks? I am thinking we will be hanging with our boys in D lounge quite a bit!

I think when we sailed the Dream, the show was around 8ish and the fireworks 10ish?

That's what I remember, show at 8, or maybe even 7:45? And the fireworks were definitely at 10. We were worried that DD wouldn't be able to stay awake for them after a long day at CC even with a nap, but she did great.

 

[Maddies Mama]

Hi! I swear I didn't forget to wrap this up but I haven't had a solid chunk of time to sit down and work on it either! It won't even be much since the day was quiet, but my kiddo is back to school just part time instead of daily and the house isn't quiet anymore so I can sit and gather my thoughts to write it out Maybe tomorrow I can wrap this up. Maybe!

 

[jenseib]

Take your time...it took me almost 6 months to do my last TR.
The current one is going on 5 months since I traveled...and I only just started day 3 of 6 days. I know how time consuming it is.

 

[Maddies Mama]

Take your time...it took me almost 6 months to do my last TR.
The current one is going on 5 months since I traveled...and I only just started day 3 of 6 days. I know how time consuming it is.

Wow! If I had to wait that long for whatever reason, there is NO way I would remember hardly anything! You either have an amazing memory or take fantastic notes