Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude Western Fantasy!! Day 1 Complete

[DisneyWhirled]

Subbing!

My DD will be 10 on our next cruise. Having done BBB 3x's we are not planning on doing it again. She has a lot of wavy hair and I too don't want to spend the whole cruise doing her hair! Braids sound like the way to go! More reasonable than I thought! I'm glad you wrote that your DD was not miserable....my DD whines all the time when I do her hair, but not when someone else does!

 

[TheThomsLuvDisney]

Subbing In!

I love the Palo pictures, Palo Brunch is my favorite! I'm sooo hungary now!!!

 

[heyshanny]

We are taking this cruise in February. Really enjoying your TR!

 

[Dclnut143]

I just realized I forgot to post the pictures of the room in the last post...

We had an 11am check in at the port, prior to leaving we had Google mapped the distance from our hotel to the Port and it was about an hour. So we wanted to be out of the hotel around 8am, grab a quick bite to eat and then drive over to the port. We had booked Park and Cruise for the week and knew that it would take some time to unload the car and load there shuttle. Normally, I am notoriously late to everything. So knowing this DH was up bright and early and had headed downstairs in search of some coffee for me.


They had Starbucks on site so he grabbed two and came back to wake me before the kids. On schedule everyone had woken and we had repacked our suitcases and finally put our tags on our luggage.

(Bright eyed and ready to go)

Bell service came up and helped with the bags and we were out of the hotel right on time. What we did not plan for was the mob scene we would encounter at McDonalds in Downtown Disney. This place was jamming at 8am.

We were able to grab our hotcakes and sausage and even get back on the road right around 9am. The drive over to the port was a pretty easy drive, one road; a few tolls (I think we passed through 3 or 4 that were .75 cents each) and then you get to see this!!

Park and Cruise was also pretty easy to find. It was the exit before the port and they have a big blimpie balloon pointing to the exit. We got off the highway and turned in. They had a shuttle waiting for us as soon as we arrived so we had to quickly unload the truck and while the shuttle driver loaded our bags DH went and parked the truck. Once DH arrived back we were off and on our way. I definitely recommend Park and Cruise, they treated us great, our truck was safe the whole week (they have a fence around the whole property and they have 24 hour camera surveillance), free shuttle to the port, and it was half the price as the port.

We pulled into the port around 10:40am and I thought with the new port arrival times and check in process we would not see the line like we saw on our last cruise. Boy was I wrong, the line was all the way down the sidewalk and there were bags everywhere. It didn’t take long before we were going through the gates and up the escalator to check in.

We got in line for Castaway Club Members and we were second in line. When we got up to check in the computers went down and none of the printers were working so we could not get our keys. It seemed that all of the stations were having this problem and in true Disney fashion they were working very hard to get this resolved and get people moving. We got boarding number 5.

After checking in we all went outside to see her in person. She was finally here and we were about to board the beautiful Fantasy that we had been watching for the last year and a half. It was hot and humid this morning, so if you are planning to keep your hair beautiful and frizz free for boarding pictures I would highly recommend staying in the ac!!

Once we were done ohhing and ahhing the Fantasy we headed back inside to check DD into her club and get her wristband. The line was pretty long, but it did move really fast and we were through in no time. While we were checking in Sailor Goofy headed out into the lobby for pics. It still amazes me how fast that line forms when the characters get out. We decided we would wait until once on the ship and say hi to Goofy then.

(Isn't he cute)

(I told you that humidity was brutal)

Before we knew it they were calling the Family of the Day and allowing boarding #1 aboard!! They called #5 within about 10 minutes and we were going through the Mickey ears and heading towards our home for the next week.

We were on the dream that weekend and we also waited for the computer problem. I hope they got it fixed by now. I have also stayed at that hotel even tho i live in orlando . Its beautiful!!!! Cant wait to read more

 

[nursemomof2]

Great trip report! I can't wait for more

 

[verygfy]

Great so far!!

Can't wait for more!

Thank you for reading!

Signing on! Can't wait to find out why you had to change cabins.

Thank you for reading! I am hoping to get that part up by this weekend. Fingers crossed.

Following along We're on a Fantasy Western cruise next May so I'm looking forward to reading more. We also have a Deluxe Inside room booked..so I'll be interested to read what happened with yours&why you had to switch rooms.

The Deluxe inside room was great. DD loved the virtual porthole, I really wish I had taken some pictures.

Really enjoying this TR...can't wait to read more! Thanks!

Thank you for reading!!

Subbing!

My DD will be 10 on our next cruise. Having done BBB 3x's we are not planning on doing it again. She has a lot of wavy hair and I too don't want to spend the whole cruise doing her hair! Braids sound like the way to go! More reasonable than I thought! I'm glad you wrote that your DD was not miserable....my DD whines all the time when I do her hair, but not when someone else does!

The braids were great. Very reasonable price and they stayed in well after we got home. She loved them as well.. I feel your pain with not wanting to do her hair constantly on the cruise. DD has thick, wavy hair also. I will do this every cruise from now on.

One tip, part of the problem with the little girl from the night before was she got her haircut the day before the cruise and did not have any "ends". I am not completely sure, but the lady told me that you should not have there haircut any later than a week before the cruise so that they have "ends"

Subbing In!

I love the Palo pictures, Palo Brunch is my favorite! I'm sooo hungary now!!!

Yummo!! Thanks for reading along

We are taking this cruise in February. Really enjoying your TR!

It goes by so fast!!Thanks for reading along.

We were on the dream that weekend and we also waited for the computer problem. I hope they got it fixed by now. I have also stayed at that hotel even tho i live in orlando . Its beautiful!!!! Cant wait to read more

It is such a beautiful hotel, it was a great surprise when we arrived and saw how gorgeous it was. Luckily the computer problem did last to long, but I do wonder what was going on that they were having so many problems.

Great trip report! I can't wait for more

Thank you for reading

 

[Dawncala]

Hi Verygfy,

It does sound like we were following each other around the cruise, (same dining rotation, seating times and everything) yet I think we really only saw your family at the DIS meet. I remember your son chatted with our kids while we were there. I figured we'd see you in the hallway a lot since our room was across the hall from yours, but then you moved. I'm interested to hear the story on that too.

I'm following along and looking forward to hearing your take on the week.

 

[15isto2]

A teenage non disney lover, you have my sympathy

 

[verygfy]

The next plan for the day was the infamous Princess Gathering. Now here is a reason to check, double check and then check your ENTIRE daily navigator again. If you have not been on a Disney cruise let me explain what I mean by this. Each night your room hostess will leave a copy of the daily navigator in your room that contains the next day’s schedule. The first part is a 4 page brochure, on the front it highlights the main evening show, then it lists some fun facts, and the top 4 or 5 don’t miss activities on the ship. Then on the inside it breaks up into different sections, such as Family Activity Highlights, Adult Activity Highlights, and Youth Activity Highlights. It will also list the movies playing in the theaters that day and any specials with the shops and spa. Then there is a 2nd single sheet that is easy to fold up and carry with you that has the hour by hour breakdown of activities around the ship. And on the back of this single sheet all of the restaurants hours, club hours and then character appearances are listed.

The reason for this detail is because unless I wanted to read more about an activity I did not pay too much attention to the 4 page brochure piece (that is just a good souvenir), what I lived by was what was on the hourly navigator. For some reason the Princess Gathering was not listed on the front side of the Navigator in the designated 1:00pm time slot. It was only listed in the character appearances section on the back side. I am not sure if DCL’s attempt was to hide it, but if you were not careful you definitely would have missed this event.

The other tip to note is that the Princess Gathering is a very popular character meet and greet and it is always advised that if you are going to attend get there early. I picked up DD from her club around 12:15 or so and we headed down the atrium to hang out for a bit before the gathering. We were one of the first ones to arrive and slowly a few other girls started showing up.

A couple more atrium shots:

Do you remember in my last post about the “floating debris” in the water that DH and I saw outside of Meridian bar. It wasn't debris at all it was 3 refugees who had been stuck out to sea. While we were waiting for the Princesses to arrive, Ray our cruise director came over the speaker and informed us that the Captain would be turning the ship around to rescue 3 men and bring them on board. Once on board they were given food and looked at by Medical staff. Apparently these men had been stuck out at sea for 3 days.

After our heroic rescued we continued to wait for our princesses and who was to arrive? Aladdin he was looking for Abu!! DD and I said we have not seen him and DD told him that he needed to find him before the show tonight, too cute!! Aladdin sat and talked with DD and I for awhile after that and then went to talk to some of the other Princesses in training. These are some of my favorite moments of the cruise. While we thoroughly enjoy the parks, there is just something so much more intimate on the cruise with the characters. It’s almost like you are on vacation with them. Before too long it was time for the Princesses to arrive and Aladdin came back to DD and grabbed her hand and escorted her to the other end of the lobby to be the first one in line.

One of my favorite pics of the whole cruise.

After Prince Aladdin escorted DD to the front of the line the princesses came out one by one…

Each of the princesses really took there time to say hello and talk with DD. We did not feel rushed at all.

Then the Princess to be on her own throne, LOL!!

 

[Contessafester]

I am enjoying your pictures and posts so much! It looks like you had an awesome trip! We are surprising our DD (7) with a Disney cruise in 12 days. I was wondering how hard it was to get the braids out. We are following up the cruise with a trip to Disney World and I have booked her a visit at the Bippidi Boppidi Boutique, so I would have to remove the braids for that. Would it be a pain? Thanks!

 

[verygfy]

I am enjoying your pictures and posts so much! It looks like you had an awesome trip! We are surprising our DD (7) with a Disney cruise in 12 days. I was wondering how hard it was to get the braids out. We are following up the cruise with a trip to Disney World and I have booked her a visit at the Bippidi Boppidi Boutique, so I would have to remove the braids for that. Would it be a pain? Thanks!

We had an incredible trip!! It was not that difficult to get the braids out. I took them out about a week after we got back. It took me about 20 minutes or so to do. And in regards to BBB, we booked her an appt on the cruise and they were able to do her hair with the braids in no problem. If you look carefully at the picture I posted on the first page of her then you will see her braids are still in. HTH!! Have a great cruise and thanks for reading along

 

[verygfy]

This will be a short post with no pictures, sorry, more pictures coming in next post I promise!

After our meeting with the Princesses we decided to head to the pool deck and attempt to ride Aquaduck then do the early show for Aladdin, DS did not want to go since he wanted to hang out in his club longer (remember this will be important later).

First we headed back to the room and change and I think I had decided to leave my camera behind since I knew we could not use it with the aquaduck and I did not want to leave it on the pool deck and also DCL now has a very strict policy about no pictures during the show.

We headed to the pool deck around 1:30pm or so. Surprisingly while it was busy we were able to find 2 chairs right by the Mickey pool. Actually every time we headed to the pool we really did have to bad of an issue finding chairs. The worst was actually the 2nd sea day and we were able to find 2 loungers on the top deck and truthfully I preferred that location. While I don’t mind crowds I would rather have a little bit of space between me and my neighbor.

First we hit the Mickey pool and that lasted for about 10 minutes before we headed up to the Aquaducks. The line for the most of the cruise was only about 20 minutes. What a blast!! We had so much fun. They are very strict about no cameras, sunglasses, hats, water shoes. There are little cubbie holes before you get in line for the Aquaduck and there is an attendant there who watches your stuff for the most part and tells everyone no belongings on the Aquaduck. Also just so you know, if you want to get a picture taken on the Aquaduck do it early in the cruise. They were only taking pictures on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I believe. I know on our 2nd sea day they were no longer taking pictures. And in regards to finding your pictures for the Aquaduck it may be a bit of an issue. They had stacks and stacks of pictures in Shutters that everyone was flipping through trying to find their pictures. Our pictures did make it to our folder so I am not sure how some do and some don’t.

After our ride around the Aquaduck we headed over to the Aqualab. Disney really did a great job with decorating this area. It is so adorable and I wish I had taken pictures of it. DD did not stay in here long but that was primarily because there were 3 boys that found sliding across the deck a lot more fun than just splashing in the area and DD was afraid they were going to knock her over.

After that she headed into Nemo’s Reef. Even at 6, she loved this area and spent a lot of time in here. This is another area I think Disney did a great job with over the Wonder. It is well shaded so no worries about lathering your child up with sunscreen if they plan on playing in here. It is also right next to some tables for outside eating from Cabanas. DD and I stopped in and grabbed some food from the buffet and I was able to get a table right next to the side entrance.

We were only able to play for a little while before we headed to the theater for the afternoon matinee of Aladdin.

As many have said before Aladdin is a fantastic show and the Genie is amazing. All of us loved the new theater. DH and I preferred the balcony to the floor, probably because we could find good seats with arriving within 15 minutes before the show. DD on the other hand preferred to be downstairs because if you were going to get picked for the show that is where they were going to select you from. So to appease everyone we rotated. Now the one thing I don’t remember on the Wonder was feeling drowsy everytime we went into the theater, lol… For some reason every time I seemed to go into the theater I would be wide awake looking forward to the show and about 5 minutes into it I felt like it was nap time (and I promise you I loved the shows so it was not the entertainment), I think it had something to do with the swaying of the boat and the darkness of the theater, so soothing. I quickly figured out a fix for this problem a stop off at Vista Café before the show and a Café Au Lait and I was all set. Oh and if you get a chance to swing by Vista Café make sure to check out the sweets cabinet. They had the most delicious chocolate brownie things (not sure what the true name was, but they were delicious).

After Aladdin, DD asked to ride the AquaDuck again so back to the pool deck we headed. This is where I lost total track of time. We were suppose to have another DISmeet at 4:30 at the grand staircase for a group picture and I completely lost track of time and did not make it. Dawncala, I am very sorry. We hung out on deck bouncing from the Mickey Pool, to Nemo’s Reef and riding the Aquaduck until about 5:30pm when we headed back to our room to get ready for Formal Night.

 

[stitch101]

Awesome report....I look fwd to more posts and pictures.

 

[Contessafester]

We had an incredible trip!! It was not that difficult to get the braids out. I took them out about a week after we got back. It took me about 20 minutes or so to do. And in regards to BBB, we booked her an appt on the cruise and they were able to do her hair with the braids in no problem. If you look carefully at the picture I posted on the first page of her then you will see her braids are still in. HTH!! Have a great cruise and thanks for reading along

Thanks for the info. Your DD looks beautiful in her BBB pic. I think the braids actually add to it! Can't wait to read more!

 

[PizzieDuster]

I am really enjoying your report! I love all the pictures. I love watching Match Your Mate. I always laugh so hard. That night club looks great!

 

[davale4]

Loving your trip report! Also enjoying the pictures...Can't wait to experience it in August .

 

[nursemomof2]

Really enjoying your trip report. Can't wait for more

 

[kimsue68]

great trip reports looking forward to more!!!

 

[DisneyRhondaKay]

Enjoying the report! So with no shoes in line for AquaDuck is the deck really hot on your feet? Looking forward to AquaLab and Nemo's Reef with my 4 yr old. And I am thrilled with the Matinee shows! I was worried about DD making it for the late show.

 

[verygfy]

I am so sorry for being absent for so long. My computer decided to give me troubles and I had to take it in for repairs. Luckily, nothing was lost!!! I hope you are still tagging along.

Tonight was Formal Night, which means lots of photos and a chance to get all dressed up. My family is not big into getting dressed up and unless we are going to the theater here in Atlanta we hardly ever get dressed up. One of my biggest plans for this evening was to get a family picture. DH, DD and I headed back to the room about 5:30 to start getting ready and that was when I realized I did not tell DS a time to be back to the room. Because of that $250 lost fee on the wave phone I did not allow DS to take the wave phone. My first attempt to get a hold of him was to call guest services and be transferred to the Vibe, but for some reason every time they transferred me they seemed to transfer me to the pool phone and it would just ring and ring. After about 3 attempts of this I realized I was not getting anywhere. So then I headed down to the Vibe to try and get him. You cannot get into the Vibe with your key so there is a phone next to the door. I called and within minutes my DS was walking out. He felt really bad that I had to come looking for him, but it really was not his fault at all. From this point on we started using the wave phones.

By the time I arrived back in the room DH was not feeling well. For some reason he was feeling very nauseous and dizzy. I told him to head up on deck and see if the fresh air would make him feel better and the kids and I would meet him after we were done getting ready.

This is where the split bathrooms came in very handy. While DS was taking a shower I was able to do my makeup and hair. I really liked the split baths and I don’t think I would book an inside again that did not have it. After getting ready we went up to deck 4 where DH was and he was feeling much better. He said as soon as he stepped out of the elevator he was feeling better.

We then headed down to deck 3 to get in line for pictures. In the Lobby there are many different cameras “stations” There was the grand staircase, the Minnie Statue, in front of the Mural by Guest Services and a few backdrop choices on both sides of the staircase. During events Decks 3 and 4 get really busy and crowded. This is the worst time to ever try and use the midship elevators. We don’t mind using the stairs and it really is a lot faster to just walk the couple of flights then try to use the elevators.
We took a few family photos in front of the Minnie statue and enjoyed our Free Cocktails, they even had drinks for the kids.

(mission accomplished)

To get away from the crowds a bit before our dinner we headed out to deck 4. This is one of our favorite places to just relax and hang out together. Love, love the comfy chairs.

Our Dinner Rotation this evening was in The Royal Court. I was happy to be here for Formal, Pirate Night and Semi Formal. Apparently I was so happy to eat there that I did not even take enough pics to piece together a decent showing of the restaurant. It is so elegant, I love all of the murals along the walls.

Tonight DH started with the shrimp and cheese Souffle which he said was yummy, DS had the shrimp and lobster appetizer, and I had the escargot. All three of us had the prime rib which we enjoyed while DD had the spaghetti and Meatballs.


As usual, the kids split out before desert and headed to the clubs leaving DH and I alone to enjoy dinner. I had the Grand Marnier soufflé which was fabulous and DH had the trio sampler.

After dinner it was time for DH and I to go to our clubs too. Tonight was Magic Dave in the Tube. By the time we arrived it was standing room only and they were directing everyone to LaPiazza to watch the show.

I considered LaPiazza a pass through type of bar, you know the type that you just grab a drink and go wherever you were heading. Not sit and enjoy the atmosphere. It is not private like The Tube, Skyline, O’Gills and Ooh La La. It is pretty though.

When you walk through LaPiazza heading to the other bars you walk through this little café area. I thought this area was such great attention to detail by Disney. No one was ever sitting there, but it was so cute and fit the theme well.

We watched Magic Dave from the bar area, we enjoyed the show. After his show DH and I finished up our drinks and decided to call it a night. DD had a list of things she wanted to accomplish tomorrow and we were already exhausted just thinking about it.