A Splash Of Wonder & A Dash Of Christmas Cheer: A Trip Report With Pictures

[FatherForce]

Great so far!

I do have to ask though, did your parents have you when they were 12?

 

[ibouncetoo]

In noticed that you do recommend Palo's. I just want to make sure this is an extra cost right? but you still recommend it.

Palo's is a MUST. If you are on a 7 or 4 day, definately do the brunch on one of your sea days. I think brunch is even better than dinner

Everybody raves about the chocolate souffle that is served at dinner (not at the brunch) and it is very yummmmmy, but also try the panna cotta (sp?), it was DEVINE!

Most definately worth the $10 service charge (plus some tip $ too).

 

[Disneygrl36]

Hi everybody. So glad to have you all along.
I had a slow night at work last night, so I was able to get the next day mostly typed up....I just have to upload pictures now. I might get it posted tonight, but if babysitting the neice takes longer than expected it will probably be Thursday.

FTB.....I took the mats along with pens with me. If you go back to page one in my pre-trip report you will see them in the packing pictures. I dropped it all off at guest services the first night of the cruise & they were waiting in our room the last night. I love the way they turned out.

bgsnmky...Palo is an extra charge, but it is worth it. Just book it you will be glad you did. The food & atmosphere are wonderful. We enjoyed having the late seating....we went to the early show & then dinner & then out to enjoy evening festivities in the clubs. If you aren't much for clubs etc the late dinner might be too late, because you finish at 10 & then what go to bed? I don't think you really miss anything with either seating since there are 2 shows every night. The later seating seemed to have less children & if you are traveling without kids that is nice.

Blaynexox....The Flying Dutchman is really cool. Such detail. And, I am glad you like my potato. He was very happy with all the cool accesories I brought back--even the ones that make him a Miss Potato Head.

Jennifer48....great minds think alike. That is what I told my husband. I have to book another cruise now & we did. Thanks about the tree.

Welcome & thanks amy2girls.

Fatherforce my parents would love you for that. They do look pretty young don't they. DMom had me when she was 18. DDad is my stepdad but only a year younger than DMom I think. They clean up pretty good. Or wait does that mean I look old?????hmmmmmmmmm.

ibouncetoo.....yep I agree about Palo. You will read about my brunch next....I liked dinner better, but brunch was wonderful.

Hope to have something new to entertain ya'll soon.

 

[Nursemomtothree]

I found this trip report yesterday and read the entire 5 pages !!! I LOVE how you include pictures with everything. I can't tell you how many trip reports I've started to read and just stopped because they didn't keep my attention.

We have a 4/3 Land and Cruise scheduled for April '07 and a 7 day western scheduled ( with friends ) in Feb. '08. My DH and I haven't been on a cruise since our honeymoon (carnival) 17 years ago...now we have three kids to take along ( ages 11,10 and 7)

And lastly, I grew up in Rutledge, Tn. and did 3 years at Carson Newman College, and am a nurse WHEW ! I feel like we know each other. I'm up north in the snow belt now, so my winter and spring trips to florida will be wonderful.

Can't wait to read more of your report. Keep it up, it's great.

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

FTB.....I took the mats along with pens with me. If you go back to page one in my pre-trip report you will see them in the packing pictures. I dropped it all off at guest services the first night of the cruise & they were waiting in our room the last night. I love the way they turned out.

So, did you drop them off there and someone got them all signed for you? Did I get that right? I was a little confused! I figured you carried it around and got the characters to sign it. That's awesome if DCL took care of it for you!!

 

[swankybeth]

Great report, I'm really enjoying all of your pictures. I also have to say that you and DH make such a cute couple!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Nursemomtothree....Welcome long lost friend . Wow I work in Morristown now & my DH is from Washburn...all not far from Rutledge. It's a small world after all. I am from Knoxville originally & have been a nurse for 12 years. Nice to have you reading along. I too really like trip reports with lots of pics because it helps me to feel more a part of things so that is why I am including so many. It takes a long time to get them uploaded but it's worth it & I think it helps to put faces with words. Have a wonderful time on all your upcoming trips especially the cruises. That is probably stupid to say though because I can't imagine anyone not having fun on a Disney cruise. If DDad had fun, anyone will.

FTB...they do it all for you. You take whatever you want autographed & drop it off & poof it appears like magic back in your stateroom. No standing in line for you.

Awwwww, swankybeth thanks. I love my DH more than I ever imagined I could love someone . He's my prince Charming. Thanks for saying we are a cute couple.

Ya'll make me feel so good!!!

I am posting Day 5....thanks to the slow late night clinic at work last night & being finished with the babysitting by 9:15 tonight, I was able to get the pics uploaded & the final touches done.
ENJOY!!!!

 

[Disneygrl36]

We woke up around 8:30 & DH went up to Beach Blanket Bingo to get us a muffin or pastry to hold us over until our 10:00am Brunch at Palo. We spent some time just relaxing in our room & then got ready for brunch. I had read wonderful things about this & got up at 3am at the 90 day mark in order to be able to book this brunch. Dmom & Ddad were supposed to go with us, but they decided not too as neither one of them is a very big breakfast eater.

We had a beautiful table right by the window & this morning we could see the beautiful view whereas the night before at dinner it was pitch black outside.
The view from our table.

We ended up having the same server from the night before, Carina from South Africa. She showed us around the buffet part of the brunch & explained it all to us & then she also gave us a menu which you could order hot items from…breakfast specialties, pizza & pasta. We got a cocktail to begin. I had a bellini & DH had an extreme mimosa. We never drink that early, so it made us a bit silly. We helped ourselves to the buffet & sampled lots of wonderful things—it was a bit strange to be eating shrimp, cheese & salads at 10am but we did our best!! We both ordered one item off the menu as well. I had always wanted to try Eggs Benedict & had never done it, so I thought no time like now & it was DELICIOUS. DH had an omelet which he enjoyed as well. We sampled a few of the little desserts from the beautiful dessert table. I loved the lemon pie. Yummo.
Here’s the dessert buffet.

The battery on the digital died on me right before the obligatory shot of us at brunch.
We left full & happy. In retrospect, I don’t think I would book a dinner & brunch back to back again at Palo because it was too much rich food in a short period of time. They both were good in different ways, but we enjoyed dinner better. My plan for our 7 night cruise is dinner one night & afternoon tea instead of brunch, but if you like brunch this would be a must do.

We dropped by Shutters to pick up a few pictures. I have read lots of reports that talked about how terribly crowded Shutters always is, but we didn’t really experience that. We bought the 5 8x10 package on the first night & easily found 5 pictures that we liked—you’ve seen one that we got 2 of so that I could do the gift for my parents. We really liked our welcome aboard picture too & our tree picture as well. We wanted a picture with Mickey & Minnie in their formal garb, but the line was way too long….next time.
Next we did a bit of shopping in Mickey’s Mates & Treasure Catch. I got a DCL charm for my Italian charm bracelet & we bought a Disney Wonder Christmas ornament, a photo album for all the million pictures I was taking & the DCL scrap booking kit. I thought I showed tremendous restraint.
Inside Mickey’s Mates

Drum roll please………..we dropped off a request for a quote for a 7 night cruise in October. I needed that nice day at Castaway Cay.

We stumbled upon a game of croquet being played in the lobby…how cute.

We took a walk around Deck 4 & played some shuffleboard. We headed back to our room next. We were going to go see The Santa Claus 3, but decided we wanted to take a nap-we hadn’t been to bed before 1am since we got on board. We called the parental units & told them the plan & they decided to spend some time in the sun on deck 7 & I think they went to the pool. We had a nice nap & then got up & went up to grab a small bite for lunch around 2pm. After lunch, we went to the Cove Café & got a coffee drink & a hot chocolate. What a cool place to chill out & relax with a nice sinful cup of warm goodness. We also went on a search & found my dream come true…the Walt Disney Suite.

We went to the future trips desk with our quote that had magically been returned to us in our fish clip outside our room & as you already know, we did book another cruise. For those of you that don’t know, you save 10% & get a $200 on-board credit if you book while on the ship. Satisfied that we would be cruising again in October, we sat in the comfy chairs on Deck 4 & relaxed for awhile. I wrote in my journal & reflected on what a great trip we had experienced so far.
This is one of my favorite pictures from the entire trip.

Here’s DH relaxing on Deck 4.

Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for the evening. DH & I wanted to get our picture taken in front of the Christmas tree which we did. We had planned to meet the parents & go into the theatre together. I wanted to get there early so we could get good seats. We ended up about the same place DH & I had sat for the Golden Mickey’s & they were good seats. This was my favorite of the shows….I am such a Disney sap. I got all teary eyed when Tinkerbell pixie-dusted the ship. Wow, it was just Disney magic & the entertainment staff just did such a great job with this & all the shows. It was magnificent & the audience gave the cast a standing ovation.
Here are a few shots from the show…sorry they aren’t really clear, but I like them & once again no flash was used.

After the show, before dinner we went to Studio Sea for Who Wants to Be a Mouskeeteer. I ended up in the hot seat & won a pin & a crystal paper weight. It was fun!! The funny thing is that it was DDad’s number that was actually called but he quickly pushed it across the table for me because there was no way he was trying his hand at Disney Trivia.
DH took this picture of me in the hot seat…..he doesn’t use the camera very often so it’s a bit blurry.

Our last dinner was at Animator’s Palate & we enjoyed the Show. we had all seen it before except Ddad. It is really neat how the room changes.

We had a great meal & enjoyed the antics of Agus for yet another meal. Our dinner ran long & we didn’t leave until 10:15 so we missed the Til We Meet Again show in the atrium. I am sure Agus just saved me from a big messy crying scene with all those people looking on. We really enjoyed our server team, especially Agus. He was great!! I think he was trying to impersonate James Bond here.

Here they are………Sabrina & Agus.

We rushed back to our room to get our bags outside before 11. Those of you who have cruised before know the drill. We had wanted to go back to the Cadillac Lounge, but both of our stomachs were not feeling too well this night..probably a combination of too much rich food & too much partying for 4 nights. We instead went up to Deck 9/10 for a walk & relaxed a bit before bed. Here is the friend that greeted us at bedtime on our final night on the Wonder.

We really enjoyed our day at sea & look forward to the more relaxing pace of days at sea on our upcoming cruise.
The beautiful sea........

Here’s Minnie Potato.

Up next…….Day 6 Debarkation & back to WDW for all of us but Ddad & Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

 

[jaycns]

We took a similar vacation this past year...time at WDW then a cruise then back to WDW...it was my dream vacation!

I skipped the spa treatment on the Magic...but after reading what you about your time there I will be adding that to my list for next time!

Also, I loved that picture you took of dh on the deck chair...those chairs are heaven!

And I really like the picture of you and dh outside of Palo. I was bonehead and forgot to bring my camera to our Palo brunch. Your picture of the dessert buffet was a happy reminder!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. I look forward to hearing more about it.

 

[GrayFal]

I found this trip report yesterday and read the entire 5 pages !!! I LOVE how you include pictures with everything. I can't tell you how many trip reports I've started to read and just stopped because they didn't keep my attention.

We have a 4/3 Land and Cruise scheduled for April '07 and a 7 day western scheduled ( with friends ) in Feb. '08. My DH and I haven't been on a cruise since our honeymoon (carnival) 17 years ago...now we have three kids to take along ( ages 11,10 and 7)

Here is the link to the cruise trip report board......http://130.94.75.33/forumdisplay.php?f=10
Enjoy!!!

 

[Jennifer48]

Yey! You booked another cruise! I'll keep my fingers crossed that you have a GREAT Castaway day!

That Palo food was great. If you had to chose one, dinner or brunch, which would you rather do? I'm thinking of brunch on my next cruise.

Thanks!

 

[Madsofa]

Just found this today! Loved the report. We have cruised before but never with Disney. I think our next cruise will be on Disney! It looks like so much fun! Maybe in 2009. We are doing the "land" vacation in March.

 

[mruhaak]

I've enjoyed your reports! My name is Melanie too!

Is that your mom? She looks so young!

 

[Disneygrl36]

OH lord if my Mom was reading along you guys would be giving her the big head. Yes, mruhaak aka Melanie (do people always mess up your name too??) that is my Mom & she does look young. Hope I inherited some of those genes.

Thanks for the crossed fingers Jennifer48. I would pick dinner I think because I got an upset tummy after eating weird stuff at 10am, but both meals the food was WONDERFUL!!!

Welcome Madsofa....glad you are enjoying. I have never cruised with any cruise line but Disney & I think I am spoiled now!!!

I will try to get another day posted this weekend....before the Christmas chaos sets in.

 

[tksbaskets]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! I love your pictures.
Teresa

 

[swankybeth]

Great installment! Those desserts looked heavenly. Congrats on booking your next cruise. I'm dying to try a Disney cruise, DH and I did our first cruise (non Disney) this year and we enjoyed it, so I know we'll love the Disney cruise. The only thing I'm a little worried about is that the Disney cruises seem more kid oriented than regular cruises. But then I read your report and it doesn't seem like an issue at all...

 

[mruhaak]

(do people always mess up your name too??)

Yes! Sometimes they call me Melody... I hate that!

 

[DisneyObsession]

I am so glad I stumbled onto your TR! I am thoroughly enjoying it!

I am taking a 4 night land/3 night sea in Nov 2007! We opted that way so we didn't have a day at sea and had more time in the parks!

You have gotten me even more excited for our trip!

Can't wait for your next installment!!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Hi everybody.....Merry Christmas.
Last time I had time to check yesterday the boards were still down.....I am glad to see them back up.
Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday.

tksbaskets I am glad you are enjoying the pictures....I've got plenty more.

Swankybeth...the desserts were wonderful. Disney cruises are great for everyone!!! As you have read, we had plenty of adult fun.

Welcome along DisneyObsession I am glad I could help. I read lots of trip reports before my trip too!!

 

[Disneygrl36]

We awoke knowing we had to leave the Wonder & this is how we were feeling about it.

We got ready pretty quickly since we had packed everything the night before.
We had a 7:45 breakfast seating since we had the 2nd seating. We were back to Animators Palate. We had a nice breakfast in which DMom ordered wheat toast & Agus presented her with “Whang” toast. We said goodbye to our buddy Agus & then went by Shutters to pick up one last picture-DMom & DDad hadn’t bought any yet. Then, we slowly headed off the ship. It really is sad leaving. But it was nice knowing that we would be sailing again in October so this sign was really true for us.

We headed to get our luggage & it was easy to find & we went through customs very painlessly. There was a family in front of us that was having a very Undisney day it seemed & it made me wonder if everyone enjoyed their trip as much as I did.

We then headed to the buses. DMom went with DDad to check his luggage in with Delta & put him on a bus to the airport as he was flying on home & the rest of us were headed back to the World. He seemed to have had a great time so I felt pretty good about bringing him along with us. He can come back anytime……we didn’t have to throw him overboard to Tic Toc.

We got on our bus to head to Old Key West—we ended up being the first stop. Yippee. We went to check in & really hoped our room would be ready, but it was only about 10:30 so I figured it wouldn’t be. I was right. We left all our stuff with bell services & headed out to Downtown Disney.
Here’s a shot of Old Key West Lobby Area.

The Marina area.

We milled around Downtown Disney & did some Christmas shopping. We went to Once Upon a Toy so I could get my Mr. Potato Head accessories that you all have been seeing in this trippie. This is really neat. You get a box & pack it full of stuff & pay one price for the box. Mine was jammed, but there was still a lot I didn’t get. Oh well, there’s always next time.
Here’s our friend Mr. Potato Head.

The tree at Downtown Disney-Mr. potato head is on here too.

Next we went to get some lunch at Earl of Sandwich. It was yummo. If you have never eaten here you must try it. I had a delicious BLT.

We went to basin to get some of their wonderful soothing bath bombs as gifts. Of course, we had to make a stop at World of Disney. I had to check out the new Pirates & Princesses areas.
Pirates.....argh

Princesses....ahhh

I wish I could go to the Bibbidi Bobbed Boutique…it looks like fun.
Here are a couple of goofy hat pictures..you know we all do it….

Our last stop was at the scrap booking store for me….I have already filled up one Disney scrapbook & needed a new one. DMom gave me Disney dollars for my Bday in Oct so I got to spend them here—she knows me pretty well doesn’t she?

We called & our room was ready, so we headed back to Old Key West to check in around 2:30 to get some rest before our fun evening of Christmas cheer at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.

We were in Building 46 which was pretty close to South Point station.

It was within walking distance (about 8 minutes) to the front- as well & it was nice & quiet. The 2 bedroom villas here are HUGE!!!! If you want space to really spread out with a big family this is the place for you.
The living room.

2nd bedroom

The view out over a lagoon.

And our special friend left by Mousekeeping.

We really liked it here, but if you had kids you might want to be closer to the main area. The bus service was great & I liked the feel of the place.
Here’s a shot across the lake of the main area.

The lighthouse.

The very cool pool…wish it had been warm enough to relax here.

We got settled in our room & then decided we would rest a bit before heading out to the party…we had gotten up early to be kicked off the Wonder remember. We took naps & then headed out to the party around 5pm. I had a surprise for Mom….I had gotten antlers for she & I to wear & she was a good sport & wore hers. We were going to get DH a hat, but we didn’t.
Here are the beautiful decorations on Main Street as you head into the party.

We were hungry & went to eat before the park closed down for the party. We ended up at Pinnochio’s Village Haus & all had pizza & salads. It was surprisingly good.

We could see a bit of Wishes through the windows as we ate. After dinner, we rode Small World…..a classic.