Boardwalk to the Beach Club.. with a cruise inbetween! April 2015

[disneybarbie]

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We spent a little longer on the beach, and then got the tram back to the main part of the island.

I bought a pin at one of the shops, and we walked around the family areas as we don't usually explore that area. We went to get a drink at the Heads Up bar but it had already closed for the day... so instead we made our way back on board... plus I had to make a start on the worst part of the cruise... packing



























Back at the ship, we decided to ride the Aqua Duck again and then played mini golf.







This area of the ship looks really fun!




Toy Story 3 had just started on Funnel Vision – so we sat and watched 20 minutes or so - such a unique way to watch a movie.





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[disneybarbie]

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Then we sat up on deck 13, and were pretty much the only people there! I read a magazine and DH listened to his iPod, and soon enough it was time to leave Castaway Cay.












Made our way back to the room and packed nearly everything, except for what we needed for that evening and the next morning. At this point I was soooo glad we'd decided to book an extra night at WDW before flying home.. post DCL blues is the worst!


We went to check out our photos from the week, and bought one that had been taken one night at dinner.





We had a pre-dinner drink at O'Gills and wandered around Europa for one last evening.






(the restrooms in Europa are so pretty.. amazing mosaics of Spanish flamenco dancers!)





Our last dinner was at Enchanted Garden – it was fun to catch up with our table mates and find out how they'd spent the day. We swapped emails/facebook info too.


Last night dessert trio.






I gave our servers their tips and gift bags – they seemed really surprised and pleased with them. Our head server, Alberto, let us all know about the breakfast plans in the morning (same restaurant and table as this evening) – but I let him know we wouldn't be coming for breakfast – he asked why, so I got to say “We're going to Disney World!”


We sat chatting for quite a while, and were among the last to leave the restaurant – I was already starting to feel sad about leaving the ship!


Made our way back up to the stateroom, last night's towel shape was a heart...





Our luggage had already been taken from outside the room, so we wouldn't see it again until the next morning at Port Canaveral.


No Navigator to read tonight, so we went to sleep … ready to head back to the World tomorrow!

 

[rteetz]

Looks like a lot of fun! I love rundisney and would definitely do the castaway cay 5k if I go on a cruise anytime soon. I'm sure your servers loved the gifts. I can't wait to hear about going back to WDW.

 

[jedijill]

I love Castaway Cay...one of favorite spots on Earth. Congrats on the race!

I hate the last night...its so sad!

Jill in CO

 

[BibbitybobityLu]

I am super late to the party but I'm loving your TR! Yay for a fellow Brit! Your cruise photos are making me want to take a Disney cruise (and I hate boats...and the sea!)

 

[disneybarbie]

Looks like a lot of fun! I love rundisney and would definitely do the castaway cay 5k if I go on a cruise anytime soon. I'm sure your servers loved the gifts. I can't wait to hear about going back to WDW.

Thank you - hope you get to do the CC 5k one day!

I love Castaway Cay...one of favorite spots on Earth. Congrats on the race!

I hate the last night...its so sad!

Jill in CO

Thank you! It always seems like everyone on board is a little blue on that last night and debarkation morning... cruises go by sooo quickly.

I am super late to the party but I'm loving your TR! Yay for a fellow Brit! Your cruise photos are making me want to take a Disney cruise (and I hate boats...and the sea!)

Hi! Thanks for reading along so far. Maybe you'll get to try a Disney cruise one day.. it's honestly like a floating hotel.. you barely notice you are on the sea or on a boat


Reading through my last update - I completely missed out that we went to the show in the theatre! It was a variety show, there was a magician who was excellent -and at the end a clever projection show which contained loads of photos of guests on our actual cruise! It contained quotes and audio clips of Walt Disney too... I may or may not have cried a little


Update on the way...

 

[disneybarbie]

Saturday 25th April 2015


Back to the World and the Beach Club!


I woke up about 6am and we were already making our way into port. Once showered and ready, we made our way down to the lobby and waited for the first debarkation to be announced (after those guests who were using the express debarkation, where you take your own luggage off the ship).





About 7.30am, the doors were opened and it was time to leave the beautiful ship.

We were quickly off and into the terminal, found our luggage straight away (it is all coded by Disney character and the porters know from your stateroom number exactly which row it will be on) and joined the short line for customs... unfortunately the form I had filled in the night before and lost itself within my bag …. but the customs officer was fine about it and let me quickly filll out another one at the desk (of course, the original form was found minutes later ).


Outside the terminal, a cast member directed us to the Resort buses.. so pleased we were getting on that bus rather than an airport bus!


Once the bus was full, we were on our way back to WDW.







Back at the World..





We made a few stops at other resorts (Caribbean Beach, Pop Century), and then it was our turn.. at the Beach Club!


We took our luggage to the check in desk, it was only about 9am so our room wasn't ready – but the cast member took our details and gave us our new magic bands. He let me know that there were DVC sliders to attach to them (inside the box) – we hadn't realised that for our Boardwalk bands! I attached mine and it was a really good idea – a CM at one of the DVC booths said 'welcome home' to me, plus we were given a discount off our purchases at the BC Marketplace later that day!


We left our luggage with bell services, and were told we'd be sent an email once our room was ready so we could head straight there & they'd bring our luggage once we called.


Then we headed to.. Epcot!








I'd heard that the bakery in France was now open for breakfast, even though World Showcase doesn't open until 11am, so we decided to stop there for something to eat.












It was pretty quiet and we managed to get a little table outside! DH had a cheese and ham baguette, I had a chocolate croissant and we had two lattes. I managed to remember enough school French to speak to the cast member too

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[disneybarbie]

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We had booked our FP+ reservations for the evening, so decided to just see what had short lines in Epcot, and enjoy strolling around the park.






We went on Spaceship Earth and walked through Innoventions, it was fun to be in the park after doing the Futureworld tour the week before – I had another level of appreciation for Epcot.


After 11am we walked over to World Showcase, stopping at the Pineapple Promenade stand for dolewhips.





We walked slowly around the lagoon, the Italian pavilion was decked out in flags as it was a national holiday in Italy that day.











As a huge Disney fan, I have listened to podcasts about the company and theme parks for several years – and one of my favourites is WDW Radio. As it happened, the host (Lou Mongello) was hosting his 'meet of the month' in Epcot that day... and we were planning to be there too!


As we walked towards the Morocco pavilion, I could see the little group gathered by the Tangerine Cafe – so I asked DH if he'd mind me taking 2 minutes to say Hi to Lou... luckily he said it was fine and let me have my Disney geek moment!


I asked Lou to sign my copy of his latest book – he is so nice in person, we'd met briefly before when I'd run the 2014 half marathon.. but it had been 4am in the Epcot parking lot and everything had been a bit of a pre-race blur!


I even got a few seconds of 'fame' on the meet's video …





Lou also gave me some Magic Band covers which were pretty cute.






It was a pretty hot day, so we decided to see the O Canada film to cool off.









While waiting, I received an email to say our room was ready and what the number was... so we could just make our way there and our Magic Bands would open the door.. amazing!

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[disneybarbie]

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We were trying to decide what to have for lunch, we didn't want anything too big as we had a special dinner planned... rather than more Flower & Garden festival food, I suggested we get out of the heat for a bit at one of DH's favourites... ESPN!


So after the show we made our way out of the park and around the lake.


We shared the pulled pork nachos for lunch, and DH got to catch up on some sports while we ate.





Then it was time to check out our new home!









We had a studio, it was really spacious and I liked the theming.













Subtle Little Mermaid bedspread!





We called for our luggage, the cast member who delivered them just happened to be from Puerto Rico, so we got chatting about San Juan as we'd just been there a few days before!


I unpacked the few things we'd need for our stay, while DH face-timed his parents.


We decided to spend the afternoon at Storm Along Bay … make the most of staying at the Yacht and Beach Club!





It was really busy and we struggled to find some sunbeds to start with. It really struck us to how many children there were around... we'd realised on the cruise ship that we were rarely near kids due to the adult only areas!



Spent a couple of hours soaking up the sun and catching up on emails/social media.. I also found out that we had spent an entire week on the same cruise ship as... Michael Buble!!







I couldn't believe it, we hadn't seen him once!

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[rteetz]

We are staying at the Beach club in January for marathon weekend. I can't wait as I love the location and being able to get to Epcot so quickly.

That's cool you met Lou I've only seen him during a race.

A whole cruise with Michael Bublé and you didn't even know it!

 

[jedijill]

BCV looks great! Awesome meet at Epcot! A whole cruise with MB! He's one of my favorites and his son is adorable! He and his wife are expecting another baby so I see more Disney cruises in his future.

Jill in CO

 

[disneybarbie]

We are staying at the Beach club in January for marathon weekend. I can't wait as I love the location and being able to get to Epcot so quickly.

That's cool you met Lou I've only seen him during a race.

A whole cruise with Michael Bublé and you didn't even know it!

That's a great resort for Marathon Weekend, we stayed at the Boardwalk for the 2014 weekend and it was perfect - it was great to be able to watch the 10k and Marathon runners too (I 'only' ran the half!)

I had joined a closed Facebook group for our cruise and it turned out many people did get to see him and his family.. they were staying concierge but did use regular dining and attended the shows etc It made me think that DCL is a great choice for famous people to vacation!

BCV looks great! Awesome meet at Epcot! A whole cruise with MB! He's one of my favorites and his son is adorable! He and his wife are expecting another baby so I see more Disney cruises in his future.

Jill in CO

Thank you for reading - I'm an MB fan too! Apparently he had taken his sisters and their families along on the cruise too, all staying concierge

 

[disneybarbie]

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It started to rain quite suddenly, so we gathered up our things and went to the Beach Club marketplace – we got some snacks and also some candy to take back for our coworkers.


We relaxed in the room for a while, and at about 6pm made our way to the bus stop – tonight we had dinner booked at California Grill.





The bus for Magic Kingdom came quickly, so we hopped on that and then walked around to the Contemporary Resort.












We had a look around the resort shops, and then checked in for our meal – we were a bit early but they said we could go upstairs and wait at the bar.



Within minutes of ordering a drink, our buzzer went off and we were seated!





We hadn't eaten at CG since the refurbishment, but had had two excellent meals there in the past - and this one was just a good. Our server was friendly and knowledgeable – she gave great recommendations for our meal... we asked her what her favourites were because we were both having trouble deciding what to order!


We shared a sushi platter to begin.





And then DH had scallops and I had bison.






All the food was delicious. We considered dessert, but were both quite full up – so we decided to get the check, and get something later on instead.


Before we left we checked out the stunning view from the deck















Then we walked over to the Magic Kingdom for the evening!






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[disneybarbie]

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The park felt busy, it was a Saturday night, but it was fun to be there at night – something we hadn't done in the week before the cruise.


Main Street Electrical Parade was on, so got to walk around the new 'back stage' walk way behind Main Street!





First we went to Tomorrowland and saw the Monsters Laugh Floor. It was a really good show, one of the monsters picked out a lady in the audience who'd just got engaged the day before – they played along really well, I thought what a great memory that must have made for the couple.








We made our way across the hub (slowly!) and got some dessert from Aloha Isle... dole whips!




Made our way back to the hub to watch the pre-show and Wishes.... Disney fireworks with dole whip... pretty much a perfect evening.

After Wishes, we had FP+ for Seven Dwarves Mine Train. This was a good choice as the line was still 90 minutes … plus we got to ride it in the dark!

It was nearly 11pm and we decided to make our way back to the Beach Club.





Quiet pool..






Duffy checking out the Beach Club Villas...




Our last night of the vacation, started to feel sad.. but we still had half a day in WDW to enjoy tomorrow!

 

[Dugette]

Whew, just got all caught up.

Congrats on finishing the Castaway Cay 5k so quickly! Great job! That island sure looks a lot more beautiful when it's not raining...guess I need to go back.

How awesome that Michael Buble was on your cruise!

Good idea to have breakfast in France. Glad you got to enjoy Epcot and the Beach Club that day.

Dug's favorite thing at CA Grill is the scallops - hope your DH enjoyed them.

Fun night at MK. Makes me realize that, despite having gone on the Mine Train a bunch of times, I don't think any of them were after dark. Guess I'll have to go back there too, haha.

 

[Disdreamprincess]

Great idea this extra day after the cruise!
Everything looked terrific.

 

[disneybarbie]

Whew, just got all caught up.

Congrats on finishing the Castaway Cay 5k so quickly! Great job! That island sure looks a lot more beautiful when it's not raining...guess I need to go back.

How awesome that Michael Buble was on your cruise!

Good idea to have breakfast in France. Glad you got to enjoy Epcot and the Beach Club that day.

Dug's favorite thing at CA Grill is the scallops - hope your DH enjoyed them.

Fun night at MK. Makes me realize that, despite having gone on the Mine Train a bunch of times, I don't think any of them were after dark. Guess I'll have to go back there too, haha.

Thanks for all the comments!
I think we ran the 5k quickly because it was so hot.. and just wanted to jump in the sea after We have been so lucky with the weather at CC each time we've been, only seen rain one afternoon I think.
The scallops were delicious, I got to try a little piece of one! They are my favourite seafood.
The Mine Train seemed faster at night and I was much more aware of the side-to-side movement too.

Great idea this extra day after the cruise!
Everything looked terrific.

Thanks! It certainly made the 'post cruise blues' so much easier to handle Our park tickets still worked from the week before the cruise, so the 'Disney math' to stay one more night just made sense!

 

[disneybarbie]

Sunday 26th April 2015


Disney's Hollywood Studios – last day!


Our flight wasn't until 6pm, so we had a few more precious Disney hours today and we wanted to make the most of it!


We packed up our luggage and contacted Bell Services, they came up to the room and took our bags, then we made our way to the boat launch .. to Hollywood Studios!












Today's fast passes..





We had an alert on the app and an email to say Tower of Terror wasn't open, so we could use the FP but something else if we wanted.



We started the day with breakfast at Starring Rolls – it's a great location to sit and people-watch on the corner of Sunset and Hollywood


What to choose...










By this time, Tower of Terror had reopened so we made our way to the Hollywood Tower hotel first.








Next was Toy Story Midway Mania – and for the first time in forever... I beat DH by a whole 600 points!

We wandered around Streets of America next.






And stopped in the Christmas shop to buy our annual new decoration...





Next FP was for Star Tours







And then, sadly, it was time to leave the park and make our way back to Crescent Lake for lunch



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[disneybarbie]

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We just missed a boat, so decided to walk back – it's still one of my favourite places in WDW, walking leisurely along the canal!



Only a few weeks before our vacation, I'd managed to get an ADR at Beaches and Cream for our lunch today – I was really pleased about it as I knew there's only a dozen or so tables, making it a very hard reservation to get!








We checked in and waited 5-10 minutes outside before we were called.





We were seated at a nice booth, I love the theming at this restaurant.





DH had a burger and I had a chicken sandwich – we realised it was one of the only times we'd had fries this vacation too!





Any thoughts of dessert were scrapped as our main meals were so big, so we paid the check and went for a little walk around the resort.


It was fairly quiet near Cape May Cafe, so I stopped to Skype my parents quickly (they are usually the ones on vacation phoning me, so it was unusual for it to be the other way around!).


We still had about an hour before our Magical Express bus arrived, so we made our way to Hurricane Hanna's and got a drink, soaking it the last few minutes of Disney magic and the warm Florida weather (it was only about 50 degrees at home!).










Sadly that hour went by far too quickly, and it was time to collect our luggage and get on the worst ride at WDW.... the return DME bus









Good bye Mickey!




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[disneybarbie]

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Our trip back was pretty smooth, we flew Premium Economy again so had a separate check-in desk at MCO, we spent some time around the airport shops and then went through Security.


I bought some high-brow magazines for the flight … and finally took off my Magic Band!








Our seats on the plane were upstairs once again, the flight was fairly smooth and I got a tiny bit of sleep between watching movies... Gone Girl and The Theory of Everything (both were really good).


When we landed in the UK, the pilot let us know it was 3 degrees (just above freezing!) - it was late April, we couldn't believe it!




Up next.... final thoughts and our next trip plans....