5/15/2011 - Disney Dream 4nt Bahamas - May 15, 2011

[MaineFam3]

May 16... Nassau Day!
Going to try to book the Sea Lion excursion and kiss a sea lion to mark the day! LOL

A birthday kiss from a sea lion, how unique! Wonder if his whiskers will tickle.
Have plenty of cameras ready to capture the moment!

 

[kjg5]

I mentioned this earlier in the thread but since we've had a few people join us I thought I'd mention it again- DF and I are getting married on Castaway Cay and we only have 6 guests yet the cake supposedly serves 50. Since we can't take it off the ship (we're going to WDW after and won't have a fridge), I wanted to offer our extra cake to all you fabulous DISers! I figured we'd all get together at some point on the last day of the cruise (probably closer to evening since we'll have to meet with the photographer earlier in the day to pick out the prints we want) and share the remaining cake! I'm open to suggestions as to when/where to meet up. I don't know exactly how much cake we'll have left, but I'm sure there will be plenty- after the 8 of us have some, I want to send a piece to the wedding coordinator, wait staff, our Mousekeeper, and the Captain- but I'm sure we'll still have some left! Open invite to anyone who cares to join us!

 

[kjg5]

May 16... Nassau Day!
Going to try to book the Sea Lion excursion and kiss a sea lion to mark the day! LOL

That's a fantastic idea! Feel free to join us on the last day to share leftover wedding cake!

 

[bubbasmom99]

My daughter's birthday is the 17th - Castaway Cay day! What a great birthday party (and wedding reception!) we'll all have on board!

 

[MaineFam3]

My daughter's birthday is the 17th - Castaway Cay day! What a great birthday party (and wedding reception!) we'll all have on board!

How old will your daughter be? So far in our meet group, we have birthdays on the 16th, 17th and 18th; and the castaway wedding on the 17th! How nice!

 

[MaineFam3]

Oops, forgot... we also have a wedding anniversary in the group celebrating on the 16th.
Really liked the wedding pictures taken at the Shades of Green. The cake was definitely worth the expense. I would have had a hard time cutting into something so beautiful!
We stayed at SOG for a week back in Oct 05 for our wedding anniversary. Got to celebrate it with hurricane Wilma.

 

[branv]

Oy, heads up peeps. I just found out that the RC Allure will be in Nassau the same day we will. That's 5400 potential cruisers on top of our 4000! So, book those excursions ASAP

 

[bubbasmom99]

How old will your daughter be? So far in our meet group, we have birthdays on the 16th, 17th and 18th; and the castaway wedding on the 17th! How nice!

She is turning 9. <sigh>

 

[Nicoledee44]

Yay! Decided to come home on the 23rd of May and got roundtrip airfare for $199/ each.
Have booked a studio @ AKV Jambo house for 3 nights pre-cruise... however still debating on staying at port hotel night before.
Need to book one night post cruise too... may also be DVC ...
How is everyone else doing?
Any interest in FE yet?
Suzanne

Which airline did you book with? I am still on the fence....this will be my first time flying out of Buffalo!

 

[tigger2on]

Southwest but their prices are all over the place. Air Tran is good too but only have 1 non-stop a day.
Buffalo is a small airport and really easy to navigate!

 

[kjg5]

Which airline did you book with? I am still on the fence....this will be my first time flying out of Buffalo!

I booked Southwest out of Buffalo- we're flying down on the 14th. I've never flown Southwest before, but I've lived in Buffalo my entire life, and the airport and surrounding area is very easy to navigate. You shouldn't have any problems.

 

[tigger2on]

Plans are all booked for this cruise and the following one for my B2B 40th B-day Cruise! And I got everything I wanted! Yay Me!
Thought I'd share our trip plan...

Flights: BUF - MCO - BUF May 12 & May 23

Pre-CRuise Stay:
May 12 - 15 - DVC stay @ AKV Jambo Studio

DDP = 3 CS & 3TS meals
May 13 - 1900 Park Fare dinner with Cinderella (TS)
Breakfast/ Lunch Counter service
May 14 - Boma Breakfast (TS) & O'hana Dinner (TS)
Breakfast Counter service

Cruise 1:
May 15 - 4 night- #7191

Cruise 2:
May 19 - 3 night - #7191 ( Yay no packing 2x)

Post Cruise Stay:

May 22 - DVC Stay @ BLT studio (We get to see Wishes before we go home)

DDP? - Chef Mickey / Counter Service

** Renting a car and parking at terminal. Car rental was cheaper and more convenient than doing transfers. I have a car for $40 MORE for the 3 days, can get right to the terminal early, shop at my own leisure, and get to ADRs without having to leave resorts a million hours early. **

So what is everyone else doing??

 

[branv]

I am so glad for these kind of threads, so when people who aren't in the Disney (cult) fan club give me that cuckoo look for all my plans a year in advance, including spreadsheets, folders and calendars, I can come here and feel normal.

So hard to believe we're just shy of 6 months. SIX MONTHS!! It's felt like forever!

Our plans are:

May 11-15, CR

Haven't settled on specific park days, though I do have a spreadsheet with park hours, crowd predictions and various scenarios (ouch, I think I just called myself a nerd). I know one morning we're going to do a Segway tour.

I know my window for dining ressies open up mid Nov, so I hope I get my park plans finalized. Must eat places are:
Kona (breakfast)
LTT (lunch...toffee cake!)
Y&Y (just dessert)

...on top of the non-ressie things like La Cava for margies, Karamelle Kuche for caramel corn, schoolbread, and..duh..dole floats!

Trying to decide which of these we will book:

Via Napoli
Le Cellier (want to try out the new signature dinner)
Flying Fish
Cali Grill
Boma (breakfast or dinner)

We'll be flying out the day we get back to port, but will luckily have time for DTD. I usually wait to buy souvies until then: tradition to get an ornament at the christmas store. Part of me, though, is tempted to push back our leaving a day so we can see Harry Potter. Not sure what DH would say about that though

Thanks for the reminder tigger2on about rental cars, I need to start pricing those as well as our trip insurance. Urrghh, and I need to find a new pet sitter. Have had iffy luck with that in the past.

 

[tigger2on]

If you have a Costco card, we got a good price from their online travel section

 

[kjg5]

This will probably change a hundred times between now and May, but this is what I have planned for DF and I so far:

May 14- fly out of Buffalo and spend the night at the Hyatt Regency in MCO- has anyone stayed there before? I hear they let you check-in there instead of waiting until you get to the port and that they also handle all your luggage and have it delivered to your stateroom

May 19- DFs birthday! Check in at Pop Century, hitting DHS when we arrive and hopping to Epcot for dinner at Teppan Edo

May 20- MK bridal portrait session at 5am, breakfast at either Crystal Palace or Kona Cafe (opinions/suggestions please!), spending the day at MK and hopping to Epcot for EMH

May 21- Animal Kingdom +/- DTD, no ADR's this day but it is a backup day for the Wishes dessert party

May 22- Starting at Epcot, dinner at Biergarten, hop to MK for EMH, also an alternate day for the Wishes dessert party

May 23- Start at Epcot with lunch or dinner at Coral Reef, then hopping to DHS for EMH

May 24- Starting at MK +/- hop to Epcot, dinner at California Grill during Wishes and I hope to catch the electrical water pageant

May 25- spending the day at MK, this is the day I'm hoping to get the Wishes Dessert Party.

May 26- Check out, Hit MK for EMH, the hop to Epcot when crowds pick up, lunch or dinner at Le Cellier (I'll take what I can get), catch 8:30pm flight back to Buffalo

Although Disney hasn't officially posted park hours/EMH hours I did this based on the schedule Disney gives travel agents. This may change based on official park hours when they are released, touringplans.com recommendations/crowd calendar, and up-to-the-minute wait times using The Unofficial Guide/touringplans.com Lines app for my phone.

We're park commandos- no sleep for us!

 

[tigger2on]

Breakfast at Kona or Crystal Palace:
Crystal Palace is Buffet ...all-you-can-eat. Character interaction and from my experience, always VERY busy and I have never gotten in even close to the time I reserved. However, once you finish eating, you are already in the world and can go on your merry way.
Kona Cafe is sit down and be served. Pick from a menu. Big portions and probably IMHO a lot quieter/calmer. You have wait for monorail or boat after your meal to get into MK.
I like both.... just depends on how you wish to start the day.

 

[branv]

Mmmm, Kona. Three words...macadamia pineapple pancakes.

 

[MaineFam3]

tigger2on, if you don't mind sharing... who did you book your rental car through? $40 for 3 days? That sounds fantastic!

 

[tigger2on]

costco travel... we're members.

 

[Nicoledee44]

If you have a Costco card, we got a good price from their online travel section

Thanks for that advice, as I do have a Costco card....I will be checking that now.

Thanks