Friday Jan 12:
We flew from Cedar Rapids at 11:30am – we used the airport van shuttle. They picked us up at our house, helped with our bags, and provided car seats for the kids in the van, so we didn’t have to worry about that. It’s the first time I’ve used that, but it was money well spent. For 4 people roundtrip, it cost $85 (plus tip), but saved us $40 in parking (plus no scraping ice/snow off our vehicle upon coming home). After loading everything at home, we headed the 4 blocks to Katherine’s school to pick her up. Yes, we sent her to kindergarten for 90 minutes that morning!
In spite of Paul rolling his eyes at me, 1. she was happy to go, 2. I was concerned about possible weather delays and didn’t want to have to deal with explaining that to her (as there was sleet forecasted) and most of all, 3. didn’t want her underfoot while trying to get out of the house! She thought it was great fun to get picked up at school to go on vacation, and her teacher said it would be fine.
At check in, we checked 5 bags, and had 4 carryons (plus a small lightweight stroller). We valet-checked the 2 larger carryons (our change of clothing/swimsuits/toiletries) and the stroller at the gate – it was nice to have them out of the way during the flight. Then, we just picked them up when deplaning. Upon arriving at our connection in Cincinnati, we saw Oma & Opa. They were flying the same flight to MCO, so it was nice to share the 2nd leg of the flight with them. Jacob took a 30min nap on the plane (better than nothing).
Just a note on our family’s normal routine – everyone is up at 7am and to bed by 8pm at our house. We knew we wouldn’t be able to keep to this on vacation, but wanted to try to maintain some semblance of order. Jacob still naps 1-2 hours in the afternoons, so we wanted to try to have that happen, too, most days. I can hear you chuckling at me, but just so you know that was our hope!
This is one reason for the ‘Disturbed Disney Dreams’ title – our sleep deprivation was so profound, the whole trip was a bit of a blur!
We got into MCO at about 4:30pm. Instead of valet-checking our 2 carry-ons as requested, the gate attendant in Cincinnati had just checked them so they were under the plane in the regular baggage compartment and were very slow coming on the baggage carousel. After about 20 minutes of anxiety about lost luggage, they eventually showed up on the belt. We flagged a porter to help us with our now GIGANTIC cart of luggage (Oma & Opa had added their 5 pieces to the mix!)
We were staying at the Hyatt Orlando Int’l, so we just went upstairs. By the time we got there, BIL#1 and family and BIL#2 were already at the Hyatt registration desk, so it was exciting to have everyone together.
We were pleased with the Hyatt. Although pricey, it was nice to not have to have a taxi after the flight, or to have to leave the building for supper. The service was excellent, and our requested crib was already set up in our room when we got there. I was concerned that it might be noisy but we only rarely heard planes at all.
In the morning, we put our bags out in the hallway with the green Disney tags. I did the first several bags incorrectly – stuck them together completely. No big deal, but it was hard to get them off when we were disembarking the boat to put new tags on. (What I don’t understand is why they make the whole thing peel off if you’re not supposed to peel it off… oh well, one of the mysteries of the universe, I guess!)
After breakfast, we went down at 9:30 or so and found the big white Mickey Gloved Disney cast members (CM) in the lobby. We checked in for our bus transport to the terminal. It was a short ride and the kids enjoyed watching the video with the Disney characters getting on the boat. It was so exciting to get close to the terminal and see the HUGE ship there!
Check in at the terminal was simple – we were boarding group 8. At kids’ check in (long line!!), Katherine didn’t want the ID band on, but when she realized her little brother ‘doesn’t get one’ then she thought it was cool.
Ah, the psychology of a 5 year old! Previous posts have complained about the kids’ clubs bracelets being big and bulky, with a locator box on them. Hers was just a simple ID band, so no big deal.
We enjoyed looking at the model of the ship in the terminal lobby, and got our picture taken with Goofy. Our first ‘character meet’ of the week! Eventually, Katherine was thrilled that we were able to go in the big ‘Mickey ears’ and on board!
Once on deck we went up to Topsider’s buffet for lunch – we were starving! After lunch we found our room - # 7606, right by the aft lifts on the starboard side. The rooms were opened at 1:30, and we decorated our door with our names and the Mickey/Minnie picture. It was such a handy location – right close to the restaurants and the Mickey pool. We didn’t have trouble with noise, once in a while we’d hear someone go by outside, but on the whole it seemed very soundproof. It was a verandah room – cat 6. We enjoyed the verandah, it was nice to look out and see the ports and other boats. My first thought upon walking in the room was ‘this is considered a big stateroom???’
but actually after the first day it did seem plenty roomy, and had lots of storage. Essentially having 2 bathrooms was great (since there is no way 2 people could fit in a bathroom at a time!)
Katherine and I put on swimsuits and went up to the Mickey pool while Paul stayed in the room to unpack and try to get Jacob to nap (unsuccessful…this will be a trend, you’ll see!) We had requested a pack-n-play and it was already in the room for us, so that was wonderful. After swimming, we changed to go to the lifeboat drill. Katherine was quite uncooperative about the whole idea of putting on the life vest, etc. Even after we explained the reasoning, she resisted. Finally, she said ‘but I don’t want to get in the life boat in the water!’ Once she realized that all she had to do was put on the vest and stand there, no problem!
Then, we headed up to the Sail Away party on deck. It was lots of fun! The CMs are so energetic and I don’t know how the characters are able to dance in those costumes, but we are still singing and dancing to ‘Hey, Hey Baby, Oo! Ah! I want to Kno-o-o-w if you’ll be my GIRL!’ That was one of the most fun moments of the cruise for me – up on deck in the sun, singing and dancing with the kids, laughing at ourselves (and everyone else) on the big jumbotron screen, blowing bubbles…
After that we got showered up/changed for dinner. We had the 6pm seating, and LAPLAPL rotation, so Lumiere’s the first night. Our family (all 12 of us) was seated together – we took up 2 full tables. That was our group time together – the rest of the time we kind of each did our own thing, occasionally meeting up for an activity.
SIDE NOTE FOR NEWBIES:
The dining schedule was very confusing to me at first – I couldn’t figure out if we were to eat at different times in different restarants, etc. Just to clarify if there are any others out there who are confused like me:
You will get your dining tickets with your Key to the World Cards upon check in at the Terminal. It will tell you what your dining rotation is – which restaurant order you have. Then, the Navigator in your room will have what time you dine that night (depending on the restaurant you’re in the first night). That time will stay the same the whole cruise, but your restaurant will change each night.
There are 2 dining arrangements:
1. Early (or Main) seating – times are assigned 5:30, 5:45 or 6pm.
2. Late seating – assigned for 8:00, 8:15 or 8:30.
They stagger the times within the dining arrangement so the galley doesn’t have to send up all the same courses at the same time to different restaurants, I guess. Also, it does get people moving around the ship at slightly different times. Dinner lasted about 1 ½ - 2 hours each evening, so there was about 30 minutes for servers to get the dining room ready for the late diners.
Back to dinner at Lumiere’s… we met our servers, Mo (Muhammed) from Indonesia and Claudio from Chile. Here’s a picture (from Animator’s night) of Oma, Mo, and Claudio.
They were fantastic – really, everything that is said about the quality of the service doesn’t even do justice. They were attentive but not overbearing, and we loved the magic tricks/mind bender puzzles that they did with crayons/table service (we were delighted every time!) Katherine loved that her condiments were always made in the shape of Mickey – here she is laughing at Claudio – they made every guest feel so special.
Here is a picture of a trick balancing 4 forks and 3 toothpicks on a wine bottle cork!
The dining room serves 500 people at once, and food arrives promptly, hot and delicious, just as ordered. I didn’t ask for any adaptations – I think you just would get the regular meal, and then anything extra you ask for in addition. One evening Paul remarked to Mo that his steak was very good, but that next time, a little more rare would be better - it was a bit overdone for medium rare. Within a few minutes another steak arrived, over Paul's protests that really, he’d eaten the other one – it was fine! We ordered a 7 bottle wine package for all the adults at the table to share and so that was fun to have different wines to try every night.
Personally, Lumiere’s was my favorite restaurant – I liked my food the best there, and maybe because we ate 3 times there, it felt most familiar. I had the Pecan-crusted halibut the first night, a chicken breast with mushroom stuffing another night, but can’t remember the remaining entrées. After supper, Katherine declined dessert, so we ordered ‘Nothing’ for her – that really cracked her up!
The food was always delicious on the cruise. I’ve heard some say that it’s not as ‘gourmet’ as other cruise lines, but I think with a mostly family crowd, it’s nice to have reasonably familiar food for people – not super spicy or exotic. I especially liked that on the kids’ menu the old standbys (cheeseburger, mac and cheese, pizza, chicken strips) were joined by different choices each night – Katherine loved the soups and the steak, and Jacob liked the spaghetti and meatballs. They also tried the fish sticks, chicken with gravy, etc. I was very impressed with the presence of fruits and vegetables everywhere.
Of course the kids’ meals came with fries, but they also came with veggies! We requested extra veggies for the kids’ appetizers each night (so they eat them when they’re hungry
) , and they had green beans, broccoli, baby corn, carrots, etc. Of course the desserts were also excellent!
There were pretty much the same options on the breakfast/lunch buffet lines each day, but it was a good variety. We also were pleased with the smaller serving sizes – it was nice to have smaller amounts that I could actually eat most of each course and still be hungry for the next one. This felt like it minimized some of the waste of food. Anyone who wanted double entrées or a second of anything was quickly brought more.
The first evening, the boat was rocking pretty well – I’m not sure if it was worse that evening because of the cold weather that swept across the nation that day, or if we just didn’t have our sea legs yet. The ship report called the waves ‘moderate’ so I don’t think we were being total pansies. Ne11 was the most uncomfortable. In fact, I gave him the sea-band wristbands I’d brought because I felt sorry for him. They must have worked well, as he didn’t remove them for 7 days. (In fact, he’s probably still got them on…! Haha) I could feel the motion of the boat, and found it slightly unpleasant, but not awful. I did take a Dramamine that evening – just to ward off any problems. Honestly, I think the glass of wine helped more than anything else – the wine gave us the spins but they were in the opposite direction from the boat spins, so it cancelled out!
After dinner our kids got pjs on/teeth brushed, etc. Paul and I traded off each evening going to the show at 8:30 with Katherine and the rest of our family, and the other stayed in the room and put Jake to bed. The first night was the variety show – Let the Magic Begin – Katherine thought the magician was funny. She collapsed into bed and was out like a light (at 9:45!) Jacob had a lot of trouble getting to sleep. He kept crying out every 10 min or so. We thought maybe he was sea sick, since his pack ‘n’ play was set up longways in the room – so the rocking was head to foot. So we turned his pack ‘n’ play crossways and that seemed to help him get to sleep. Who knows?
Up tomorrow – Key West and BUTTERFLIES!
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He didn’t want to miss anything!
Highlight of this place: no children fell in the water, and we left with all our fingers intact. 
I wanted so much for this to be a fun vacation – and our previous vacations were (granted, those were 2-3 days long)! This was just TOO MUCH for me to handle this day. Poor Paul! He comforted me and sent me off to the deck to sit in the sun for a while alone, while he and the kids watched a movie in the room.
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