20th Anniversary Trips: "I don't know" Cruise Edition (A Feb Wish Cruise Report)

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Welcome to the first trip report in a series of trips for us this year!

If you are new to my trip reports, I'm Ariella the planner and schemer of all of our trips. And then my husband Andy enjoys our trips but let's me do the bulk of planning. We have our 20th wedding anniversary this year. So this trip report is just the 2 of us. You will see those other 2 girls in the next installment.
Photopass with Walt

With it being our 20th wedding anniversary, we discussed many options for this year. And we decided on a short cruise just Andy and I and then a full family trip over the summer. So, this is the adults only trip. Andy and I had never been on a cruise before. ANY cruise. So, if you want to hear about a first timers perspective, follow along!

We did squeeze in one park day before we got on the cruise. And boy did we pack in the fun for that one day. So, follow along if you want to hear about our 3 parks in 1 day before boarding the Disney Wish!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Travel Day​

Leading up to this trip I was feeling a tiny bit guilty, as we were leavind the girls with my sister while we were gone. And they were feeling the middle of winter blues and were not happy we were leaving them for a vacation. But not too guilty to not go.

I dropped the girls off at school this morning and said goodbye. (see guilt fueled dropoff) My sister showed up at the house in the morning and worked from the house. While Andy and I worked in the morning from the house as well.

Andy called an Uber around 1:00 and we were off to the airport. We live outside of Philly, so it's a short 20 minute ride to the airport. We got dropped off at our terminal, dropped off our bags and made it through TSA Pre-check in no time.

We stopped at Marlyn and Buds, a local restaurant for Philly and grabbed a snack to hold us over till we got to Florida. It was about 2:15 when we got our Mules.
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Andy and I have been on a Gin and Tonic or Gin Mule kick lately.... These were just good old regular mules. But they helped us kick off the trip! We also ordered an order of Buffalo Wings. No photo but they looked like, well buffalo wings.

It was just enough to keep us from getting hangry. After we had our “lunch” we headed to our gate. AND here..... we were greeted to not ONE, not TWO but THREE cheer teams waiting to get on the same plane!!! Eeek! It was very full in the waiting area. All of the girls were just sitting around talking, so it was loud but not terrible. This weekend was the superbowl, and the Eagles were in the superbowl. So there was a few E-A-G-L-E-S chears.

The plane was over booked and since it was groups of cheer squads, the airline was struggling to get folks to take a credit and not fly. And some of the cheer parents/ chaperones looked stressed. There was a snow storm coming the next morning as well and getting off really risked you making it anywhere for possibly 48 hours. But finally they resolved everything. We did leave late but only 10-15 minutes.

The kids on the plane were actually very well behaved. It was the moms who talked the whole time!!!! I knew WAY too much about them… oye. But we made it to Orlando with little issues.

We were seeing this beautiful site a little before 7:00 PM
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We grabbed our suitcases and went outside to get an uber. We only had to wait 5 minutes for an uber.

And just a little before 8:00, we were passing under Disney World Sign
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We were headed to Caribbean Beach, but our driver tried to take us to the Riveria. When we pulled in the guard asked which resort and told the driver where to do. (I am guessing this happens often, since the guard asked which resort) This was a huge issue when we stay at Caribbean Beach when the construction was happening. But back then there was no one to tell the drivers where to go.

Once the drive got to the correct place, I was able to direct him to our building. Which was nice as we didn’t have to walk too far with our stuff.

We got a room in Trinidad Building 38 Room 3819, 1st floor. When I looked it up, I realized that, that was the REALLY far away rooms. But it didn’t really matter too much for us. We had 1 day, so we weren’t too worried about it.

We were in the room around 8:15 PM
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The room was nice with just 2 of us… we didn’t have to pull the bed down so we had lots of room. Andy changed real quick. I think he went from jeans to shorts. And we headed out.

We decided to just get an uber over to Disney Springs. Andy didn’t want to wait for the bus. We were able to get picked up at the circle by our room. So that was nice. As a side note, there was a group of clearly cheer girls waiting and got papa john’s pizza delivered to them.

It was 8:45 PM when we arrived at Disney Springs. Our uber driver dropped us off on the west side. And I knew we were on the WRONG side of disney springs for where we wanted to eat dinner.... Also the walk around Cirque du soliel is LONG!!!!
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But we made the best of it and just did our shopping as we made our way to the other side of disney springs. We were both looking for a cup for the cruise. Andy wanted a corkscicle cup and I was looking for a mickey balloon cup.

We popped into a few stores. Andy picked a Captain America cockscicle cup.

Checked out World of Disney. Sadly did not have my cup…
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I asked a CM if they had the cups and she kindly told me they sold out pretty quickly... Her tag said she went to SCAD, so of course Andy had to ask her how she liked it. As we are going to see SCAD in April, Morgan our oldest is intrested in going there. (That will be the next installment in our trips for the year) After we finished chatting with her, we headed out to what was our ultimate destination...

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We finally made it to Eet! around 9:40!

This was our second time eating here, and IT DID NOT DIS-APOINT!!!!

It was late, so there wasn't really anyone in there. I really hope they are doing ok, because, seriously, this is soooo good!

We started with the bread service. The first time we came here, I didn't get the bread service as I thought it couldn't be as good as Sanaa's.

eet Bread Service with Pimento Whipped Paneer
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buttered naan, garlic naan, pimento whipped paneer cheese, masala vegetable sticks, indian pickle, coriander honey, chutneys

This was great!!! I think the naan itself is actually better than sanna’s. And all of the dips were great!!! The pimento whipped paneer cheese was mild cheese spread that you would find on a charchutier plate. The Coriander honey was really good. Andy really liked that. Coriander tonned down the sweetness of the honey. There was alos a mint chutney that was excellent. I love most mint chutneys.

Highly recommend! If you haven't gone to Sannaa as you are worried you won't like the food. Come here, and get the bread service. You don't have to commit to a full meal or full sit down meal time!

D.I.Y. Pani Puri
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(7 pcs.) crispy semolina puffs, black garbanzo beans, potatoes, tamarind, date chutney, mint cilantro water

These are really fun. The garbanzo bean filling is fairly mild but well seasoned. And you are to put the beans and some of the crunchy puffs into the semolina balls. And then you pour in some of the mint cilantro water. It is a mix of all your senses... warm from the garbanzo beans and cold from the water.

These were good as well. But my least favorite thing so far from here. It reminded me of a dish I make at home.

But the star of the show for dinner tonight was the Tandoori Chicken Kebab. (I think that is what it was called. It's not on the online menu. And I can't find it anywhere online)
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This was amazing!!! They brought this out a little after the other 2 items as they book them to order. And they were crispy and hot when they brought them out. The breading was so different than anything we have had. It was so flavorfull but not spicy.

And the hot honey sauce was AMAZING!!!! It doesn't look like much but it was soo good and alot of chicken! Andy has been dreaming about it.

We had a conversation with the manager as it was late and we were literally the only people in the place. We talked to him about opening more stores and we said we would love to have one in the Philly area. We also talked about how the location they are in at Disney Springs is not exactly the best spot. So, this is my plea... GO and try it!!!! Last time we got the Butter Chicken Poutine! Amazingly good!!!
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This and the bread service are perfect first time trying Indian foods!

If you are a little more adventurous or love Sannaa, try the Walking Tacos. I loved it so much that I have tried to make this at home.
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After our meal, we popped into Goofy’s Kitchen to get snacks for the girls. Sadly, I passed on dessert for us as I was So full and it was already late. After that, we headed to the ride share and got an uber back to the room.

We headed pretty much to bed. It was a long day and we knew we had a full day ahead of us tomorrow!

Up next, Our Park Day!

 

[rdkeim]

Following along on your anniversary trip! I've enjoyed all your TR's

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I’m here and super excited to hear about your fun Disney day and your cruise!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Following along on your anniversary trip! I've enjoyed all your TR's

Welcome!!! YEAH!!! I don't know why but everytime I start a trip report I think no one will read it!

I’m here and super excited to hear about your fun Disney day and your cruise!

Welcome!!!! I am excited to kick off the report. i did take less photos than I normally do, especially once I got to the cruise part. It felt weird taking photos. And it was just all new!

 

[SEAGULL59]

I'm here!

 

[Sarahh1027]

Excited to hear all about your trip!

 

[Paulaparm]

An awesome start! Can’t wait to read more.

 

[jgl130]

Hopped over here from your PTR. Can’t wait to hear about your Jaleo experience!

 

[VAtink]

Joining in! Can't wait to read more!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I'm here!

Welcome!!! Glad you are hear!!

Excited to hear all about your trip!

Welcome!!! Glad you are hear! I hope to have next installment soon.

An awesome start! Can’t wait to read more.

Thanks! Glad you are here!

Hopped over here from your PTR. Can’t wait to hear about your Jaleo experience!

I have bad news... We didn't make it to Jaleo... I made the reservation for Sunday not Monday... I was kind of fooded out anyway...

Joining in! Can't wait to read more!

Welcome!!! Glad you are hear. I am hoping to have the next installment up soon.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Woot Woot!!! I made it! I can't wait to hear about the cruise!!!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Happy anniversary! Looking forward to hearing what you guys thought of the cruise!

 

[footballmouse]

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Park Day! Hollywood Studios

i had big plans for this day. We had one day and I was going to make the absolute most of the not cheap one day park hopper we had to buy for the day!

We set our alarm for 6:45AM. We probably should have gotten up earlier but it was the earliest I could bare to set it for on our firwst day of vacation..... Last night, I did get a text from the school saying that the girls had a 2 hour delay this morning. There was an ice story happening, so I texted my sister and the girls to see how the weather was.

We got ready and headed out to the Skyliner just before 8:00.
Sand Turtles
look at these cute sand turtles at the beach by our room. So cute. I assume they were stone but I didn't want to venture into the sand to find out.

Ready to start the Day
We snapped a selfie to send to the girls and we were off.

First priority was Coffee!!! We stopped at the Joffrey’s stand by the skyliner. This was an excellent idea for them to have there!!!
Jofferies Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cold Brew
Valentine's Day was next week and they had a drink special tor it. So, I got the Valentine Chocolate covered Strawberry Cold Brew. This was quite tasty. Normally I am just a regular coffee girl so this was a nice vaca treat! And the caffeine was much needed. Andy got a regular Cold Brew.

We were on the skyliner just after 8:11 AM!
On the Styliner

And walking up to the park at 8:18! Skyliner is the best!
Entering HS

Oscar's

Hollywood Studios opened at 9:00 for everyone and 8:30 for hotel guests this day. They were allowing everyone in through the turnstyles and hten checking bands at certain spots.

As we were walking in Gwen had text us and asked if I was going to vlog like she asked. I wasn't going to. But she said please.... So we tried...
First Vlog post...
This is our first attempt at it... I did figure out how to take pics while filming... but of course that got Andy with his eyes closed..... We decided to head to Rise of Resistance first,

We walked up to the entrance to Galaxy's Edge and there was a line forming. And I thought that was the line for Rise. Turned out it was for the non-hotel guest to que up for regular entry. So we walked passed them and scanned our bands to get into Early Entry area and walked right into the que!
heading into Galaxy's Edge

It was 8:27 AM as we were walking into the que
Into the que

We pretty much walked directly into the preshow room. It was 8:36 AM when we got to the room with BB8 and Ray
Space Junk
Saw some space junk along the way.

Lightsaber Controls?
I saw this and thought it looked like a jumbo light saber in the wall.

BB8

Stortroopers
I just love this room. Every time we have walked into this room, it is silent.

We were grouped with some folks who were clearly going on it for the first time. And I was kind of excitied to hear there reactions. Turned out they didn't react very much. But as always this ride is just the best.
Probe

AHHH Wrong Way!
The very first time we went on this we got the car that is directly in front of this and we consider it the "better" track.

Finn
You get a different view of the AT-ATs

We Did It
Thankfully we survied! We did it!!

We were off the ride at 8:58 and I was hoping we could get into the Slinky Dog Que before the non-resort quests. So we headed that way.
Headed to Toy Story Mania

I knew it was a long shot since they were probably holding non hotel guests just outside Toy Storyland like Galaxy's edge but we tried.... We were in line at 9:03 But we did not make it before the non-resort guests. We decided to just wait. We flowed into the line and stopped once we were in the actual que.

Dash & Dodge
We just checked out the que while we waited and texted with the girls a little since they hadn't left for school yet.

Slinky Train
Slinky Frog
I said I would have loved a slinky frog as a kid.

Anyone need Glue
Anybody need Glue?!

Glue
I think this might have been only the 2nd time we have waited in the regular line... So, we didn't mind seeing all of the props in line.

Newspaper Reading
This guy was more intrested in his newspaper! I snapped a photo because a few weeks ago I had to take Morgan to buy newspaper for a physics and she kept saying "Who still reads newspapers?" So I sent her this photo and said this guy still reads the newspaper...

QR Code
I found this and tried to scan it. Nothing happened sadly..

Ready to Ride
We finally made it on the rise at 9:41 AM

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I am glad we got to ride, it's been a few trips since we have been able to ride. AND my girls are already saying that "we don't have to ride this" on the next trip.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Park Day! Hollywood Studios

We decided to get in line for Toy Story Mania next. We did have a LL for this but later than we wanted to stay at Hollywood Studios.
Toy Story Mania
It was a posted 30 minutes wait, so that seemed ok.
Empty Line
And it seemed like it would go fast...

BUT they started making announcements that they were having delays so our wait might be longer. The LL lane even started to back up. So we decided to bail and try later.

Chinese thearter
So, we headed over to mickey and minnie’s runaway railway, as it was just after 10:00 and our first LL was ready to use!

Once we scanned in, I started to fiddle faddle to see what we could do now that we used our first LL. I ended up switching out Toy Story Mania LL to a Milenium Falcon LL that we could use before our Tower of Terror LL.




We got to skip part of the line, as they were asking for parties of 2. I love this, as we are usually a party of 4 and have to wait.

Once we got up to the front, the one car got skipped twice. And the 3rd time, a manager came over and said to make it a code yellow (i think) We thought maybe it was dirty or something but we couldn’t tell.

This ride is just so cute. I love it.
Goofy

Twister

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[url=https://flic.kr/p/2qLLMRY]Firework Mickeys[/url]

To Trains

We had a little time before our next LL, so we decided to shecked out a few stores. Andy wanted a new magic band so we headed to the stores in the front of the park to see what we could find.

I was also still looking for a cup for the cruise (and home).

I snapped this for Gwen, she asked us to look for new big footies. I said this was the opposite, big headed...

Andy found a magic band but no cup for me. Toy Story Mania's wait time had gone down again, so we decided to try and ride again. So we headed that way.


It was about 11:00 by now. We waited about half an hour to get on the ride. Not too bad.
Life Guard Louie
Snapped this photo in line, Morgan and Gwen weirdly love Life Guard Louie!

I grabbed another LL while in line. I was able to grab a Star Tours LL to use before Milenieum Falcon. So we had a nice line up of 3 LL to use after this.

Buzz Lightyear
I was texting with Gwen again, as she was in study hall, I think. And I told her I had to concentrate to beat Daddy!
Bo Peep



The final scores.....

I WON!!!

I had texted this and asked the girls to guess who won. Gwen (and her friends) all guessed me. And they were right!!! I was behind leading into the last area but some how pulled out the win! Woo Hoo!

It was now just about noon and we were getting hungry but we had a few more LL to use. First was Star Tours!

We were ready to "fly" just after noon.
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Star Tours is always fun. Andy poked around the store on the way out. I grabbed a LL while waiting to ride for something in Magic Kingdom. I think I started with Haunted Mansion.

We headed over to Milenium Falcon and were headed in at 12:25.



We walked basically right to this room and in no time on our way.

We got paired up with a mom and son. Son was small, I feared he wasn’t going to be able to reach to get us into light speed. We were given shooters and we had a single rider behind us to be the engineer.

We got an extended video here that we had never scene before.

I was right, the little boy was too short to reach the light speed lever. But thankfully the mom was able to reach over and send us to lightspeed. The kid was not a good driver. Which was fine EXCEPT the single rider behind us and any time I didn’t start shooting right away he would tap me on my shoulder. Like dude, we have a kid driving you think my shooting is the problem here?

Regardless it was fun! I was glad we got to do this as well, as we also haven't done this in awhile. I pit Stopped and got myself a Surly Sarlacc.

Andy poked around the stores a little bit on our way out of Galaxy's Edge. this is also where I started to be overwhelmed... I was trying to video, drink my drink and make a new LL. I have a new respect for Vloggers!!! I was able to grab another LL for Magic Kingdom, I got a Pirates LL.

It was now 1:00 and we were HUNGRY!!!! But we had one last LL to use! Tower of Terror.




We were on the ride by 1:08. We were again pulled ahead being a party of 2!

This was also fun as always!

I grabbed another LL, This time I grabbed a LL for Soarin in EPCOT. Because it was FINALLY time to head to EPCOT. We were starving!!! We were headed to the Skyliner at 1:30.

Up next Festival of the Arts food!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

What an amazing morning so far! Thought though - with the number of trips you plan, why do you not have an annual pass?? That would have made this park day essentially free. At least if you use my Disney/girl math skills. Let me know if you need those skills to justify annual passes to Andy.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

For someone who said they didn’t take a lot of pictures… you have a lot of great pictures!

You had an excellent morning at Hollywood Studios! You managed ALL the heavy hitters (I’m SO impressed with your lightning lane booking skills!) and managed a few fun drinks as well.

Way to go on beating Andy on Toy Story Mania! I LOVE that attraction and always like to beat the other people in my group, too.

We were again pulled ahead being a party of 2!

Being a party of one or two has bumped me ahead many times on attractions. It’s good to pay attention and be prepared to shoot up your hand the minute they ask for a smaller party!

 

[Sarahh1027]

Such a successful morning!! Excited to hear about how the rest of your park day goes!

 

[vamassey1]

I'm here!

We saw the cup you wanted when we were there in January. I think they had just dropped. I hope you finally found it.

We stayed at CBR in January in a Trinidad room Our building was close the bridge so the walk wasn't bad at all. Loved the updated room. We had Danielle so not as much space as you and Andy had but we still felt it was great.

I'm impressed with how much you're getting done.