Land/Sea - Just back! (Beach Club/Wonder) July 12-20

[dreamydays]

Hi everyone! We are just back from our trip, and I thought I would try my hand at an abbreviated trip report.

Our family, including my dh, dd (who turned 16 on the trip), ds (12), and myself left Sacramento for DisneyWorld on 7/12. We stayed at the Beach Club as part of the package plan and were VERY pleasantly surprised when we were upgraded to the Concierge level upon arrival. Yea, free food! We did not have to buy breakfast any of the days and anytime we were at the hotel (which admittedly wasn't very often), we could go into the lounge and grab wine, sodas, soups, crackers, cheese, popcorn, donuts, etc. It saved us SOOO much money!

The hotel is beautiful, and we enjoyed the close proximity to the parks. We could walk to Epcot in 5 minutes and MGM was a 10 min boat ride. The hotel also had little rental boats that kids 12 and older could drive all around the bay. Boy, was THAT fun!

We spent much of the time at the 4 parks. The great thing about having older kids is that we bypassed all of the baby rides and went all out for roller coasters, scary rides and action!!! We even stayed late with the 3 hour extra magic hours dedicated to Disney hotel guests every single night. (Being from the west coast, the time differences worked to our advantage....it was no problem for us to stay up 'til 2 am!) It is a great time to be out...all of the crowds with small children are gone and it is quiet and the lines are short. We especially loved Expedition Everest, Space Mountain, the Rockin' Roller Coaster, the Hollywood Tower of Terror and most of all, Mission Space (spinning). They were great!!

My daughter's 16th birthday was celebrated in grand style with visits to 3 parks. She collected "It's My Birthday" buttons at all and had a very tasty cake and dinner at an Epcot Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant. So many cast members said "Happy Birthday" to her that her sweet 16 was very special!

Tips that worked: Bring water bottles. Spray bottles are nice, too. It is HOT and steamy! The parks do a good job of routing parts of many of the lines through air conditioning, but it seems that we were alternately drenched in sweat and freezing in air conditioning. Whatever...water helps.

On Sunday, we headed to the cruise ship. Yippee!!!!!!!! More to come!

 

[fallon]

YaaaaaaaaaaaaaaYYYYYYYYYY!!

I am so happy to see your report. DH and I are doing the same trip in Sept.. BC then cruise. Was the BC really great? We are 1st timers and I want to know everything I can.

Where did you eat at WDW? Did you find it hard to do all of the parks in 4 days?

Thanks for posting your report.

 

[dreamydays]

Hi Fallon!

WE were 1st timers, too. I read everything I could find but it is fun to experience everything first hand.

We signed up for the 3night hotel/4night sea trip. We were concerned that we would not have enough time in the parks since we would spend one whole day flying to Orlando. So, we added another night in the hotel. That worked out fine. We had part of the evening (plus extra hours) at the MGM on Wednesday night after we flew all day. Thursday, we went to Animal Kingdom during the day and Epcot at night (using the extra hours until 1am). Friday, we went hung around the hotel in the morning to rest and ride the boats. We left for the Magic Kingdom at around 3:00pm and stayed 'til around 2am!
Saturday, we went back to MGM for a while in the am then back to Epcot in the afternoon. Sunday, we could have gone back to the Animal Kingdom as the cruise has a bus that can pick you up there for the trip to the ship around 12:30. We just decided to forego that option, and we caught the cruise bus at the hotel at ll:30.

The hotel is really nice. To tell you the truth, I expected more....but it grew on me the longer I was there. (The free food really was a plus and the proximity to Epcot was incredible.)

We really ate in one restaurant the whole time we were there, opting to save our big meals for the ship. It was the Japanese one at Epcot that my daughter selected for her birthday meal. We grabbed pizza, hamburgers, fish and chips, etc. at the different parks otherwise.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any other questions. I will add on to my trip report soon describing the ship. AAAAAAAHHHHH!

 

[dreamydays]

WE set off for the cruise with mixed feelings. My husband was hoping that it would be worth the expense. My son thought that it was going to be BORING!!! My daughter was very excited at the prospect of pirate night. I was hoping that everything would go well since I put a lot of time into the planning and wanted everyone to be happy.

The bus ride from the hotel to the port was rather quiet as the passengers watched the video and pondered the uncertainty of the embarkation process.
We needn't have worried, though, because the hotel cruise desk had already checked us in and our bags were already sitting outside our stateroom door.
We waltzed onto the ship with no problem. It was cool! We ate lunch at BBB and set off to find our room. More later.

 

[mom_of_2_princesses]

I hope to hear more soon. I love trip reports

 

[dreamydays]

Once we found our cabin, we started to unload into the plentiful drawers. We shortly heard an announcement asking one person from each stateroom to go to a meeting re:shopping in Nassau. They promised gifts and prizes. My daughter and I went to see what was happening.

Word of Advise to first time cruisers: DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME GOING TO THIS MEETING!!!!! Unless you are planning to shop for jewelry, this is like an informercial for far too many shops in Nassau. They did give out one free excursion and one free spa treatment, but the rest of the time was spent trying to sell you a coupon book. The free gift was a coupon for a "diamond bracelet" that you had to get at the store in Nassau! AAAAAHHH! This was the one bummer on the trip!

The rest of the first day was spent exploring the ship and dining at Parrot Cay (our assigned restaurant). At the end of the first day, my reluctant 12 year old asked me why we haven't done this before and my husband was happy, too. Victory was mine!!!

The second day was in Nassau. We went on the Catamarran Snorkel boat excursion. My kids snorkeled for the first time. Soon after we got into the water, my daughter started floundering around and yelling for me to come over to her. I thought she was having trouble; but she said excitedly, "Mom, I saw Dori!!!!" (Remember the blue fish from Finding Nemo?) The fish were beautiful and we had a great time. The free rum punches were very strong, but they made some people very happy. Ha Ha!

We avoided the shops and just went right back to the ship for lunch. Then we went to see "The Pirates of the Caribbean" while on the Caribbean!!! Aaarrrh! It was fun. We had dinner at Tritons that night (dress up) and it was very delicious.

 

[dreamydays]

We woke up to Castaway Cay and the Flying Dutchman. After a quick breakfast at BBB, we headed off the ship to find a shady spot. We rounded up 4 really good chairs under a tree and an umbrella. The dd and I went to the shop briefly after she had her picture made with the Capt. Jack Sparrow character.....she said that her friends would be sooo envious and that she felt all happy inside. My husband rented two snorkel sets and he and my son briefly tried out the snorkel course before realizing that our excursion was starting soon.

We headed out for our Banana boat ride, and I found that the tip advising the use of goggles was invaluable. The people without goggles soon had eyes full of stinging salt water. We enjoyed it thoroughly, though; and I had never before heard my husband laughing so much like a girl.

After the banana ride, my daughter and I snorkeled way out to the end of the boundary. I saw a stingray and a huge school of fish. They weren't as colorful and the varieties were fewer than the Nassau trip, but it was fun anyway.

Then, we rode the tram back to the Marges Barges area to catch our second excursion, parasailing. We were first timers, but boy was that fun and totally worth it! It was peaceful, secure, and beautiful. All of us would do that again in a heartbeat!

After lunch at Cookies, the kids and I went back to the ship. My husband snorkeled an hour longer. Great day on Castaway Cay!!! Wish we could have stayed longer.!!

More later.

 

[Ker-Bear]

looking forward to your day at sea

 

[Muushka]

Great report, I am enjoying the read! Thanks

 

[MagicMe]

Sounds like a great trip. Can't wait to hear how you enjoyed your day at sea!!

 

[nancass]

Could you tell me if your kids went to the teens club. If they did, how did they like it? What were their favorites there? We'll be cruising for the first time in Feb. and my two kids are 16 and 13, (boy and girl) as well!

 

[mikelan6]

More please. Did you take any pics?

 

[BTSEN5]

I am looking at my options for a cruise next summer. I was thinking about a land and sea package, but I am not sure what all is included. If I stay in a cat 9 on the ship, what is included in the land portion. Food can be quite expensive, so I was wondering if it automatically included food, drinks, etc. I am having a hard time deciding what I would like to do, since DCL has no 7 day cruises next summer.

 

[BTSEN5]

Could you tell me if your kids went to the teens club. If they did, how did they like it? What were their favorites there? We'll be cruising for the first time in Feb. and my two kids are 16 and 13, (boy and girl) as well!

I just came off the Magic a week ago tomorrow and my 14 year old son had a great time in the teen club. He met a group of kids that he is still in contact with and they are trying to plan a cruise for 2008 together. He ate dinner with us and went onshore with us, but he wanted to go to the stack etc otherwise. If your children are open to meeting new people, they will have a blast and make friends.

 

[dreamydays]

I came home to a houseful of out-of-state relatives and I've been out of commission for a bit. I can't believe our trip is over. It came and went far too fast!!!

I'll quickly finish the report and then answer your questions.

We loved the Golden Mickeys. The look on my 16 year-old daughter's face when she saw the hunky Tarzan was priceless. Wow! It makes me giggle even now. Pirate night was a riot, too. That was the first time I have done the conga and the limbo in the middle of dinner in a nice restaurant (Triton's). The deck party and fireworks had me thinking, "I can't believe I am here!" It was just sooooooo wonderful (albeit LOUD). The kids were so inspired, they saw Pirates of the Caribbean again at the ll:00pm showing.

The day at sea found my husband and I pigging out at the incredible Palo brunch. It was well worth it, although not that crowded. Later, my husband took off for his scheduled massage and I grabbed my son and headed to see "Cars". My daughter shopped and happened upon our waitresses. Dhana and Grace talked to her for a time and found out that it was recently her birthday. Consequently, at dinner, we had a glorious cake and celebration.

We packed our suitcases and left them in the hall for the 11:00pm pickup. Wah! Wah! I was relieved to find that the laundry is open at 2:00 in the morning when my son had a bloody nose and it got on the only clothes he had left.

Our flight to Sacramento (via DFW) left at 12:09. We were a little anxious about making it. Thinks went so smoothly, though, we had 8:00 breakfast
at Animator' Palate, found our bags with the red mickey tags, cleared customs, boarded the bus and arrived at the airport by 10:30.

This trip was just the most wonderful ever. The whole family was left with a sense of complete exhilaration and a desire to do it again......SOOOOOON.

Just a few observations:

1. Having older kids is great. We could all go and do our own things and we didn't need to spend inordinate time waiting to get character signatures. Ha! Ha! The kids went to Aloft on a couple of afternoons to play the computers and hang out. They did not like the rap music, but the games were fun. They did not do any of the teen activities because my daughter didn't want to go by herself and my son was technically too young at 12. He was able to go in during the down time without notice, though.

2. Our room (7602) was very quiet and nice. It was convenient to the restaurants and to the isolated deck on the back of deck 7. Fear not if you are in the general vicinity of elevators. It isn't bad. I would avoid the rooms across from any laundry rooms, however. There were often several people waiting to use the ironing boards.

3. There aren't any 7 day cruises next summer! We would have signed right up. Oh well, maybe some year!

I'll try to add some pictures and answer any questions. Thanks for reading my trip report. You are going to LOOVE your journey!

 

[dreamydays]

I am looking at my options for a cruise next summer. I was thinking about a land and sea package, but I am not sure what all is included. If I stay in a cat 9 on the ship, what is included in the land portion. Food can be quite expensive, so I was wondering if it automatically included food, drinks, etc. I am having a hard time deciding what I would like to do, since DCL has no 7 day cruises next summer.

Food is not included in the land portion. As I said, we lucked out by getting the concierge level and lots of free food. I'm not sure what hotel you would be in, but there are small refrigerators in many rooms. If you are driving, it may be well worth it to bring some of your food to snack on. WE did not find the parks to be horribly expensive for fast food, though; and with the promise of unlimited food on the ship, we did not feel the need to splurge for food at the parks.