Dream CAME true! June 21-26, 2011 TR w/LOTS of pics! Update 8/1 Day 6, Part 4

[heathsf]

Oh my gosh I'm so late getting here! But I'm all caught up and so far it looks AMAZING! You have me drooling and desperate to go on another cruise. Can't wait for more!

 

[annabug]

It is great reading your report! Thank you for all of the pics! We are headed on our first cruise next June, we will also stay at Hyatt MCO, so glad you had a good experience there!

we are traveling with two litte ones so our experience will be a little diffeent, but we would love to find time to head up to the bar area at some point!

looking foward to reading more. You are an adorable couple!
annabug

 

[MomsOf2boys]

What a great and fun trip report! Sounds like a wonderful trip! I want to try the tequilla tasting as well now!

 

[SeaSpray]

Excellent report and pics! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

I just found your report and am so glad I did!! We are cruising on the Dream in September, and reading this has me looking forward to it more now than ever!! I've loved reading about all of your adventures! Remy looked wonderful! It looked a little too fancy for me, but I loved reading all about it! And the parasailing on CC looked like so much fun! You really got some very cool pictures from up there! I have to say that it's now on my list of things to do on CC one day!

I really am enjoying your report, so keep it coming!!

 

[soul_power]

Aww yay, I'm glad to see that you guys enjoyed the tequila tasting! DBF and I definitely plan on signing up for the tastings that are offered on our cruise. Did you sign up right when you got on the ship?

 

[bangzoom6877]

I LOVE your last update with all the food porn! I would have also ordered the beef tenderloin, and my DH also loves veal dishes. I eat veal too, but I would go for the beef. Those desserts look terrific! Can't help it, I'm a chocoholic! Thankfully, the cruise we're going on has a chocoholic buffet one day...we've been to them before on NCL...last time we said we wouldn't go again because it gets insanely crowded, but we have to go this time, the kids will love it! Yeah, that's it...it's for the kids!

Yes, as you said, it feels great to have my cruise list done. And yes, planning for WDW is a lot of work, but I have last year's list for that saved already, along with last year's theme park touring plans, so that helps a lot. All I have to do is update things. The best part about that is, that DS4 was not potty-trained yet on last July's trip. So we had to pack Pull-ups and wipes...but about 3 weeks after we got home, he was completely potty-trained. So, that part of the list is something I am very glad to be updating!

OK, now I am eagerly awaiting more of your TR!

 

[PyxiiDustt]

Love love loving your TR You're practically answering all of the questions I'd been pondering before we leave on Friday evening (our cruise leaves Sunday!!). DSis and I are planning on doing a lot of the things you and your crew did, so I'm loving all of the reviews!

 

[Leshaface]

Oh my gosh I'm so late getting here! But I'm all caught up and so far it looks AMAZING! You have me drooling and desperate to go on another cruise. Can't wait for more!

OMGosh!! Hi girly! How are things?! Have you finished your TR? I know i'm subscribed, but haven't seen it pop up on my list.

It is great reading your report! Thank you for all of the pics! We are headed on our first cruise next June, we will also stay at Hyatt MCO, so glad you had a good experience there!

we are traveling with two litte ones so our experience will be a little diffeent, but we would love to find time to head up to the bar area at some point!

looking foward to reading more. You are an adorable couple!
annabug

You will love the Hyatt! It's super comfortable, and it's nice knowing as soon as you grab your luggage, you don't have to deal with any shuttles, cabs, rental cars, etc, to get you to your hotel. And if you need to find a sit down place to eat, check out McCoy's. It's way cheaper then their other restaurant, Hemisphere.

What a great and fun trip report! Sounds like a wonderful trip! I want to try the tequilla tasting as well now!

You HAVE to do the tequila tasting! Or they have the champagne tasting and the martini tasting as well, if that is something you'd like more

Excellent report and pics! Thanks for sharing!!

Thanks Seaspray!

I just found your report and am so glad I did!! We are cruising on the Dream in September, and reading this has me looking forward to it more now than ever!! I've loved reading about all of your adventures! Remy looked wonderful! It looked a little too fancy for me, but I loved reading all about it! And the parasailing on CC looked like so much fun! You really got some very cool pictures from up there! I have to say that it's now on my list of things to do on CC one day!

I really am enjoying your report, so keep it coming!!

Remy's is pretty fancy, however, the servers here don't treat you like crap, like they do at other French restaurants I've been too. Remy's has a more relaxed, non-stuck up feeling to it, which is nice.

Parasailing was the ultimate adrenaline rush! So fun and at first I thought I would be a little scared about it, but once you're up there, you forget about everything and you're totally enveloped into what's going on around you.

Aww yay, I'm glad to see that you guys enjoyed the tequila tasting! DBF and I definitely plan on signing up for the tastings that are offered on our cruise. Did you sign up right when you got on the ship?

We signed up the day of the tasting. Like 5 hours before the tasting started and they had a lot of seats available. So I would just wait until that day, just in case there's something else you wanted to do during that time, otherwise, this is DEFINITELY worth the money!

I LOVE your last update with all the food porn! I would have also ordered the beef tenderloin, and my DH also loves veal dishes. I eat veal too, but I would go for the beef. Those desserts look terrific! Can't help it, I'm a chocoholic! Thankfully, the cruise we're going on has a chocoholic buffet one day...we've been to them before on NCL...last time we said we wouldn't go again because it gets insanely crowded, but we have to go this time, the kids will love it! Yeah, that's it...it's for the kids!

Yes, as you said, it feels great to have my cruise list done. And yes, planning for WDW is a lot of work, but I have last year's list for that saved already, along with last year's theme park touring plans, so that helps a lot. All I have to do is update things. The best part about that is, that DS4 was not potty-trained yet on last July's trip. So we had to pack Pull-ups and wipes...but about 3 weeks after we got home, he was completely potty-trained. So, that part of the list is something I am very glad to be updating!

OK, now I am eagerly awaiting more of your TR!

i have to have chocolate on the DAILY! Whether it be a square (that Disney puts on your bed for you) or chocolate milk, brownies (made zucchini brownies the other day, unbelievably good), cakes, cookies, etc. I have to have it, or i'll be in a bad mood.

Yay! Does this mean, there will be more room for Souvies now?!

Love love loving your TR You're practically answering all of the questions I'd been pondering before we leave on Friday evening (our cruise leaves Sunday!!). DSis and I are planning on doing a lot of the things you and your crew did, so I'm loving all of the reviews!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me before you leave and i'll definitely try to answer them to the best of my ability!

 

[heathsf]

OMGosh!! Hi girly! How are things?! Have you finished your TR? I know i'm subscribed, but haven't seen it pop up on my list.

No the thread was closed Life got in the way and I guess I let too much time pass without updating it.

 

[FirstTimeDC]

Thanks again, for updating. Love the pictures! It's making my wait a bearable.....

 

[Leshaface]

No the thread was closed Life got in the way and I guess I let too much time pass without updating it.

ugh that's right!

Will you be doing one for your upcoming trip!?

Thanks again, for updating. Love the pictures! It's making my wait a bearable.....

Thanks! Haha waiting is the WORST part of any trip!

 

[franandaj]

I've been meaning to comment on a number of things but lately it seems I'm always DISing on my phone (hard to edit quotes), but as it seems I have a lot of time on my hands right now, I'll try to remember some of the comments.

Regarding dining companions, I don't think Disney has many tables larger than four seats and if they do they save them for larger families. We were a party of two and they sat us with another party of two. We probably said about 10 sentences to each other the whole time, not that I didn't try, they were either real shy or had other issues.

Isn't parasailing the best? It's been a long time since I've been anywhere that offers it and had the time, but this Fall in WDW hopefully we can do it at the Contemporary!

Grand Mariner soufflés are the BEST! Let me know when you make them so I can join you for dessert!

I noticed on the schedule there was a cooking demo for adults that was Lobster Ravioli. Was there a charge for that? Do you think it was a similar "sign up today" like the Tequila tasting was? The tequila tasting looked awesome, Patron is my favorite brand, the silver.

Dinner at animator's palette looked great! I'm going to start lurking in the cruise forums looking for tips about Mexican Riviera trips!

 

[hardingk]

Oh no!! Your pics are gone

 

[SweetSpot]

Oh no you hit the photo bucket limit!

 

[franandaj]

You must get a TON of lurkers who read your reports because they always seem to hit maximum bandwidth!

We're patient. Just wait until you get back from New England to hear about everything, but you better tack on the New England TR here otherwise there will be mutiny!

 

[MomsOf2boys]

You HAVE to do the tequila tasting! Or they have the champagne tasting and the martini tasting as well, if that is something you'd like more

Believe it or not, I have never had a martini. We are going with a group of 13-15 adults (most of our teens are now legal adults except for 2 who will be 16 and 20) So I may end up doing tequila as well as martini or mojito. I am a pretty light drinker so I hope they are not on the same day as I may not be able to walk!

Because of the large group, most who are going simply because we are having a vow renewal, we are not doing Remy's. We may do Palo for brunch or tea but the group has linked for dinner so we should probably be there... or else we might miss something.

 

[heathsf]

ugh that's right!

Will you be doing one for your upcoming trip!?

I'm not sure yet. Maybe....

 

[bangzoom6877]

i have to have chocolate on the DAILY! Whether it be a square (that Disney puts on your bed for you) or chocolate milk, brownies (made zucchini brownies the other day, unbelievably good), cakes, cookies, etc. I have to have it, or i'll be in a bad mood.

Yay! Does this mean, there will be more room for Souvies now?!

I also have chocolate, in some form, on a daily basis. Even if it is just some chocolate soymilk or almondmilk, or a few chocolate chips. I need my chocolate fix everyday! Zucchini brownies sound great...and a very good way to sneak some veggies into my boys' diets. They are so picky with veggies, especially the little guy. He will only eat pickles, or baby corn (like at the Chinese restaurant), and sauce but only on pizza. The other day at out July 4th BBQ, he ate some baby carrots from the crudite I served. DS6 eats broccoli so I give him a lot of that. But I need to start doing things like baking and adding in veggies where they can't taste them but still get the benefit. Zucchini brownies would be a great way to start! How do you make them?

Yes, there is more room for souvenirs now! We are starting to teach the boys the value of the dollar and earning money. So, we told them that as long as they clean their rooms very well right before the cruise (I get nutty about cleaning right before vacation ), we will give them some money for a souvenir on the cruise. We told them that we will determine how much is the right amount, and they can't buy candy with it! DS6 also will have the option of bringing his own money that he got from the tooth fairy...he lost his second tooth yesterday!

 

[Leshaface]

I've been meaning to comment on a number of things but lately it seems I'm always DISing on my phone (hard to edit quotes), but as it seems I have a lot of time on my hands right now, I'll try to remember some of the comments.

Regarding dining companions, I don't think Disney has many tables larger than four seats and if they do they save them for larger families. We were a party of two and they sat us with another party of two. We probably said about 10 sentences to each other the whole time, not that I didn't try, they were either real shy or had other issues.

Isn't parasailing the best? It's been a long time since I've been anywhere that offers it and had the time, but this Fall in WDW hopefully we can do it at the Contemporary!

Grand Mariner soufflés are the BEST! Let me know when you make them so I can join you for dessert!

I noticed on the schedule there was a cooking demo for adults that was Lobster Ravioli. Was there a charge for that? Do you think it was a similar "sign up today" like the Tequila tasting was? The tequila tasting looked awesome, Patron is my favorite brand, the silver.

Dinner at animator's palette looked great! I'm going to start lurking in the cruise forums looking for tips about Mexican Riviera trips!

Hopefully you weren't at the DMV too long! What time did you end up leaving tulare?

When DB and Dsil went on their Disney cruise last Summer, they were seated with 3 other couples at a large round table. I was kind of hoping for that this time around, but BECAUSE we were only a table of four, we got lucky, and got to sit at the gorgeous booths at Enchanted Garden I believe there were only 10 in that whole restaurant so it was awesome! And your experience was what I was worried about, had we been seated with other people. I talk too much (you probably noticed that at Chilitos ) so they probably would have been annoyed with me

That's the NEXT place I want to parasail at! I would love to do it there! I bet you would get some amazing views up there! Do you know how much it is to do it there?

LOL! Now I'll learn to make souffles, so I can save some for you the next time you're in town!

I REALLY wanted to do that cooking class, but I think it was during the ESPN sports thing, and I know DH didn't want to go in there by himself, so I was unable to go. And nope, it was free and you didn't need to sign up in advance for it! I checked the Nav, and it tells you if you need to sign up for certain activities in advance and this wasn't one of those

Oh no!! Your pics are gone

Oh no you hit the photo bucket limit!

UGH! This literally ALWAYS happens to me when I do TR's! I'm sorry

You must get a TON of lurkers who read your reports because they always seem to hit maximum bandwidth!

We're patient. Just wait until you get back from New England to hear about everything, but you better tack on the New England TR here otherwise there will be mutiny!

LURKERS! COME OUT AND SAY HI! None of us here bite....at least I don't

I really wanted to get this done before I left! Oh well...I should do a little mini TR about my trip

Believe it or not, I have never had a martini. We are going with a group of 13-15 adults (most of our teens are now legal adults except for 2 who will be 16 and 20) So I may end up doing tequila as well as martini or mojito. I am a pretty light drinker so I hope they are not on the same day as I may not be able to walk!

Because of the large group, most who are going simply because we are having a vow renewal, we are not doing Remy's. We may do Palo for brunch or tea but the group has linked for dinner so we should probably be there... or else we might miss something.

Martinis can be really good, but they're definitely an acquired taste. If you like the taste of lemon, lemon drop martinis are very good! Or go to the Skyline Lounge and have them make you something!

Uh-oh! All the tastings were on the same day! And you just gave me a brilliant idea for next time! I would have NEVER thought to sign up for MULTIPLE tastings! Why not right? It's not like i'm driving, only walking on a somtimes uneven surface! THANK YOU!

Also, I heard the Palo brunch is AWESOME! But it fills up super quick. Quicker then it does for dinner, is what i've read/heard.

I'm not sure yet. Maybe....

I'm thinking YES! I won't be able to go to WDW until next Winter sad1: ) so I need to rely on my DIS friends to keep me entertained with WDW adventures!

I also have chocolate, in some form, on a daily basis. Even if it is just some chocolate soymilk or almondmilk, or a few chocolate chips. I need my chocolate fix everyday! Zucchini brownies sound great...and a very good way to sneak some veggies into my boys' diets. They are so picky with veggies, especially the little guy. He will only eat pickles, or baby corn (like at the Chinese restaurant), and sauce but only on pizza. The other day at out July 4th BBQ, he ate some baby carrots from the crudite I served. DS6 eats broccoli so I give him a lot of that. But I need to start doing things like baking and adding in veggies where they can't taste them but still get the benefit. Zucchini brownies would be a great way to start! How do you make them?

Yes, there is more room for souvenirs now! We are starting to teach the boys the value of the dollar and earning money. So, we told them that as long as they clean their rooms very well right before the cruise (I get nutty about cleaning right before vacation), we will give them some money for a souvenir on the cruise. We told them that we will determine how much is the right amount, and they can't buy candy with it! DS6 also will have the option of bringing his own money that he got from the tooth fairy...he lost his second tooth yesterday!

Oh the zucchini brownies were SO good! And they didn't have eggs or butter in them either, just oil! Here's the recipe I used, and i'm sure you could tweak it to make it even healthier, by subbing the oil for applesauce and maybe doing half whole wheat flour, half regular flour. Also, I used about 2 1/2 - 3 cups zucchini. It's a VERY dry batter, so don't be alarmed. You'll have to literally pack the batter into the pan, but because of all the water in the zucchini, it turns out super moist.

Zucchini Brownies

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched. To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.


I am the very same way about cleaning. If the house is clean/organized, I feel less stressed out and feel i'm able to pack more efficiently, if this makes sense.....maybe I should go on vacation more often, seeing as my house is an absolute mess right now! I'm sure i'll be cleaning like a freak on Saturday though before New England

Aww! Do you keep their baby teeth?