A "Dream" was her wish

[chelleydi77]

For a little background on our trip and why/how we went, check here.

 

[chelleydi77]

It's hard to believe we've been home for almost a week. Reality hit hard when we got home with school starting and trying (still trying) to establish a good routine after being able to sleep in, eat whatever you wanted and not having to do anything! We had an amazing time on our trip and owe a very special thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of San Diego for making it all happen. Also thanks to Disney Cruise Line for the extra Pixie Dust they provided over the 5 days we were on board.

So on with the story! Day 1!!!

Saturday was an EARLY day for the T fam. We were being picked up by La Costa Limo service at 5 so we had to make sure we were up and ready before they got here. We were all up at 4:15 and ready to go in less than 30 min. I guess we were a little excited! Everything was rather uneventful until we got to Texas. I had the times screwed up so we almost missed our flight to Orlando. Thankfully we made it (we had to sit apart but we managed).

Upon arriving at MCO, we were greeted by an Orlando police officer holding a MAW sign. He was our escort to the Hyatt (inside the airport). Imagine the looks we received having a police escort at an airport! If they only knew... He was really nice and showed us where our luggage would be and took us to the registration desk for the hotel. The Hyatt staff was super friendly and efficient. The girls and I were able to hang out in the room while Mike and Mr. PO went to get our luggage. We had an awesome view of the middle of the terminal. It seems kind of weird but it was great for people watching!

After getting settled a little, we went to go find some dinner. We not only found dinner but we found Krispy Kreme! We had breakfast already planned! After dinner at Chili's, Mike took the girls shopping and I went to bed. I don't sleep well on planes (and well, sitting with the girls makes for chatty plane rides) so I was beyond exhausted. We knew we had another early morning on Sunday so we made sure all of us were tucked in early.

Traveling is never really any fun but I think our anticipation of what Sunday was bringing made everything okay! Stay tuned for Day 2 coming soon!!!

***here is a link for pics from day 1. The password is MAWtrip

 

[kdzbear]

Great start to your report! I actually understand the strange looks. My husband is a prosecutor and when I had my first daughter I went into labor a month early. I went to the hospital on my own to get checked out and assumed they would say it was false labor and send me back home. He was doing a ride along for his job. I had no way to get a hold of him as this was prior to cell phones. They paged him on the 911 system and he was escorted to the hospital with flashing lights and all. Then I sent him home to get clothes and diapers for the baby as one of his friends in uniform sat with me. I am sure the hospital staff thought I was under arrest! It will make an interesting story when you tell people about your trip report! I can't wait to read about all of the pixie dust on your cruise!

 

[Mom2mitokids]

Great start.. My kids thought the hotel in the terminal was cool.

 

[iloverags2]

Can't wait to read all about your cruise! The view at the Hyatt is way cool!

 

[princessmamaof5]

Woohoo cant wait to read

 

[chelleydi77]

While the Hyatt is a very nice hotel, it is in the middle of an airport! That made and early day for Mikayla and mom. Nothing like waking up to the sounds of "ID's and boarding passes" over and over again. It ended up working out well because I had plenty of time to sort our carry-on for the cruise and get everything ready for Disney to pick up our luggage from the hotel room. We were all ready and out the door by 8 am. I guess the thought of Krispy Kreme AND Starbucks made us a little excited (oh, and the fact we would soon be on board the Dream)! We checked out and headed down for our ultimate breakfast.

Once we got breakfast, we went downstairs to check-in for the cruise. The process was extremely simple, we handed in our preprinted boarding pass, filled out the medical form, had our picture taken (for security), were given our Keys to the World cards (KTTW) and our bus "number" of Cinderella. We sat down and anxiously awaited 9:30 so we could board the bus and head to port (all while enjoying our KK and coffee).

Finally 9:30 rolled around and we lined up. We were given our boarding number (number 7. I was pretty disappointed and tried to change it with no luck...but it ended up working out okay). Then before we knew it, we were on the buses, heading to port. The bus ride was about 45 min but it didn't seem like it was that long before we looked over to our left and saw the Disney Dream and all her glory. She is BEAUTIFUL and the other ships around her definitely paled in comparison to her size and beauty.

We unloaded the buses, went through security and up to the waiting area. I tried again to get our boarding number changed but no one could help me, oh well, such is life. We got the girls checked in for the kids club, got their bracelets w/ GPS things (that's what I called them anyway) and had them change into their swimsuits. While we were waiting we saw Daisy Duck in her cruise attire. Around 11, they started boarding. Having number 7 was fine because they waste NO time boarding. We were hearing "The Disney Dream welcomes the Tranchitella family" by 11:30. Finally, we were on board!!! Now to find food (because I'm sure we all know that KK and coffee is not really a great breakfast!).

We headed upstairs to Cabanas (we were told there was ice cream up there, lol). We easily found a spot to sit, dropped off our carry-on things and got some yummy food. I can't remember what all we ate but it was very good. After we ate, off we went to the pools, mainly the Aqua Duck though. The pools were not crowded at this point and the line for the AD was only about 10 min. We were all able to ride the AD a few times before the line became too long. It was a lot of fun, the girls had a blast on it and screamed each time they rode. Oh, Mike and I got the drink of the day (Bahama Mama) to start our trip off right, lol!

1:30 rolled around and we headed off to see our room. Our luggage wasn't outside our door yet but we headed in to check things out. We had a little pixie dust from our Make-A-Wish host, Ana, a wonderful cheese and fruit platter to welcome us on board. This was just the first of many little things Disney did for the MAW families. Since our luggage wasn't there yet, we headed BACK to the pool for some fun in the sun before it was time for the safety drill.

Before the safety drill, we headed back to the room to get ready for it and cool down. We had some time to kill so we went and toured the kids clubs. We had a lot of fun in the clubs, they were amazing (loved the hand washers and I wish we could have them at home!). Back upstairs we went to thankfully find that our luggage had arrived so decorated our door with magnets, situated all of our things and headed down to our spot in the Walt Disney Theater for the safety drill (thank goodness it was indoors because this lady is not used to the hot and humidity any longer, Cali has corrupted me!).

After the safety drill, it was time for the sail away party! So off we went, back upstairs for some more fun in the sun and the Sail Away drink (I can't remember the name but it was yummy!). We pulled out of port while dancing and singing to Mickey and the gang. What a great way to start out a vacation!

After the sail away party, we went and got ready for dinner. We had early seating and this night we had dinner in the Royal Palace. We sat down and met our asst. server, Angel and server, Warren. They were both fantastic and welcoming. We ordered our food and enjoyed every moment of it (minus the escargot...how anyone eats that stuff is beyond me).

After we stuffed ourselves with food and, of course, dessert, we headed back upstairs because the girls wanted to go back to the pools. Mike and the girls went to the pools, I went to bed.

Day one was amazing, exhausting, slightly overwhelming, but absolutely amazing. Each day gets a little more amazing...stay tuned!

***pics from day 2, password, MAWtrip***

 

[kdzbear]

Yeah for making it to the boat! I love all of the food photos. Your daughter in the window cut out is adorable. I am so glad that you enjoyed your first day on the Dream. The aquaduck sounds like fun!

 

[jessica52877]

What a wonderful start! That hotel in the airport looks like alot of fun but I bet you are right about being woken up in the morning. I knew the hotel was there but didn't realize you could see right down into the terminal. I almost want to stay there (we always drive to disney).

Love your photos on board! I think my favorite is of the girls checking out the bed. It just looks like they are having a wonderful time aboard! Your door and FE is so cute!! I really loved the MAW shirts, perfect for boarding and the skirt sets!

Isn't that carriage the bread comes in just wonderful!

Can't wait to hear more about trip!!!

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

Checking in and loving it

 

[katieb4]

SOOOOOOO FUN!!!

Thank you for sharing!!!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Loved the Trip report so much.

 

[petals]

joining in. Luvin all the pics

 

[LuvEeyore]

Joining in for the fun. MAW foundation is wonderful and I am glad your family was able to go cruisin

 

[chelleydi77]

I haven't forgotten about the rest of the TR! Things have been a little crazy w/ school, soccer, cheer, Girl Scouts, etc. I was in the middle of writing up day 3 yesterday on here when we lost power (those 4 million, that was us...so much fun...). Mike leaves on Monday for the week and I start back to school that day also. Hopefully I'll be able to get the rest posted before things get even crazier!

 

[princessmamaof5]

I haven't forgotten about the rest of the TR! Things have been a little crazy w/ school, soccer, cheer, Girl Scouts, etc. I was in the middle of writing up day 3 yesterday on here when we lost power (those 4 million, that was us...so much fun...). Mike leaves on Monday for the week and I start back to school that day also. Hopefully I'll be able to get the rest posted before things get even crazier!

Girl Scouts just started for us too Some of my moms on the troop were like what are you doing arent you supposed to be packing and getting ready for the trip of your life lol and i was like yeah im supposed to be but girlscout life must go on hehe. Im glad you got your power back on

 

[chelleydi77]

Monday morning we woke up to see the crystal blue waters of Nassau, Bahamas. We had slept in so we had to sort of hurry to get ready so we wouldn't miss breakfast up in Cabanas. We headed to Cabanas and sat outside to have breakfast. Can I say it was hot and humid? Needless to say, we only ate outside once. While we were eating, I was able to see some of the crew practicing the lifeboat drills. The lifeboats sure have come a long way since the Titanic, thank goodness!!!

We didn't have to check-in for our Blue Lagoon excursion until 12:45 so we just hung out until then. After we checked in, got our stickers and bracelets, we headed down to deck 1 to walk over to the catamaran and go to the Blue Lagoon. Did I say it was hot and humid? The walk to the catamaran was about 10 min. and I think every person in our group was dripping with sweat by the time we got there (gross I know but it was hot...). Thankfully the trip over was about 30 min. and there was a nice breeze to help cool things down.

Once we arrived at Blue Lagoon, there was no time to waste. We were immediately shown where we needed to go for our dolphin lessons/instruction/safety stuff. The lessons were about 10 minutes, thank goodness because...it was so hot! Before we knew it, we were sitting on a dock, feet in the water, with Cacique, our new dolphin friend, getting us soaking wet.

During our dolphin interaction, we were able to pet, feed, dance, kiss and hug Cacique. He was quite the ladies man and loved giving the ladies lots of extra kisses. He was also quite the dancer, which many of us were not, so we were subjected to his splashes, rude noises and crazy sounds. It was an amazing experience that I would recommend a thousand times over.

Unfortunately, time was running out for us (we had early seating for dinner) so we had to head back to the ship without being able to explore Nassau. We were pretty okay with it due to the fact that it's not exactly the cleanest nor the safest looking place! So we headed back, tired and hungry, ready for our date with Crush at Animators Palate.

We rushed to get ready for dinner (we had another treat from Ana, a huge plate of cookies) and headed down to eat. Out of all the restaurants, this one was our favorite. The decor and Crush interaction made for a wonderful atmosphere. The food was excellent and Warren's magic tricks had me freaking out a little, ha ha!

After dinner, we went to see the Golden Mickeys (great show!), the girls went to the Lab, Mike and I went to the bar. After all of that, the girls and Mike went swimming and I went to bed, again. It was an amazing, yet exhausting day.

Day 3 pics ***password MAWtrip***

 

[katieb4]

What a fantastic day!!

the pictures are fabulous! Thanks for sharing!!!!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Congratulations on the wish!!

 

[chelleydi77]

I think this is the day were most anticipating. Since we didn't get to spend much time in Nassau, we were ready to swim in the gorgeous Bahamian water and just have some down time. We were up and at 'em much earlier than the day before because we wanted to get as much beach time as possible.

We headed up to have breakfast in Cabanas then headed back to the room to gather all of our "stuff". We decided to take the tram to the family beach and thank goodness because it was HOT (I'm noticing a pattern here, lol). We made it to the family beach but had a nice little trek to find a chair. It was very crowded but we managed to find a spot right along the trees in the back. The girls and I went to the water while Mike went to get our rafts (thank you Ana and Disney for the Getaway Package!).

The water was absolutely gorgeous. We spent the next few hours just playing in the water, having lunch, enjoying a Konk Kooler (made by a VERY generous bartender) and relaxing. We didn't see any creatures from the deep besides fish and for that, we were grateful.

We had reservations for the stingray excursion at 2 so right before we headed over so get all of our gear for that. Once again, before we knew it, were in the water, petting and feeding Castaways stingrays. These creatures are amazing. I was surprised at how friendly they actually are, they would swim right by you, beside you, etc. We snorkeled for a while (and with some difficulty, snorkeling isn't as easy as it looks) before we had to head back to the ship for a little Make-A-Wish pixie dust.

From 3-4, the cruise line had a special meet and greet for the Make-A-Wish guest and their families. We headed to the D Lounge to go meet Mickey Mouse and Peter Pan. Madison was so excited to see Mickey but Mikayla had her reservations, she was more interested in the yummy cookies and juice they were serving. Madison had her pictures taken with both characters and then went on to have a little tango lesson with Mickey. It was a real treat to see Mickey interact with the kids and their families.

After all of that excitement, we still had more fun to come, for this night was Pirate Night! We headed back to deck 7 to get ready in our pirate garb. We had another cheese and fruit platter in our stateroom so we enjoyed that while we got suited up in bandannas, patches and pirate attire.

Dinner that night was in the Enchanted Garden. I must say it was sort of odd to see all the pirate outfits in such a pretty restaurant, lol. As before, the food was awesome (they even had fried okra!!!) and the girls had a great time. After dinner we went to go see Mickey's Pirates IN the Carribean. When the show ended Madison headed to the Lab and the rest of us went to see Taylor Mason, a very funny ventriloquist. He had us cracking up the entire time (Google him, he's hilarious). When the show ended, we went to get Madison and headed to the top deck for the fireworks. The fireworks show was really a neat experience but since it was so crowded on the decks, that's all we were able to see (not the show on the stage).

Alas, our day had ended. This time we were ALL exhausted so off to bed we went. One more day on the ship left, our time was, sadly, coming to a close.

Castaway Cay pics, password MAWtrip