Land & Sea Report from March 10-18, '04

[Vivig]

Hello,

I would first like to Thank everyone once again for all the useful information I received from these boards prior to our trip. It has become an awful addiction...but I am sure there are worst things in life than being addicted to the Disboards..don't you all think???

First, I would like to once again thank 'jiminy579' Deeann for the wonderful postcard she had sent to us. This started off our surprise trip for our son in the perfect way...he keeps asking how did Micket Mouse and Pluto know how much I like them..how did they find out our address..etc..etc...Verandah Man "Andy" began this wonderful gesture for the children..and let me tell you it brings much joy to the little ones. May all your wishes come true DeeAnn and Andy, you are very special people..Although I have not met either one of you, I know you are very special people.

Now..this may be long, I will try to make it has brief as possible and not too boring I hope

MArch 10, 2004

We arranged for our flight to leave one day earlier than the start of the Land & Sea package. We had kept this a surprise for our son...so we went and picked him up from school. Boy, he was sooo excited leaving his classs early! All I heard was ...Christopher's Mommy why is Christopher leaving so early? Will he be back tomorrow? and on and on it went until we finally left the classroom. Then he began ..where are we going? I showed him the envelope that DeeAnn had sent to Christopher and said 'Open it up, there might be some special news for you". Well, he opened it and we could see the pieces coming together. He sure was excited!!! ( Side note...he has had an awful year at school this year...1st grade, French Immersion and a Teacher from $%*! I won't go there..but it has not been pleasant!)

We took our planes and arrived very late in Tampa(There were no available flights so we decided to fly into Tampa) and drove to Orlando to the Port Orleans Riverside resort. Check was a breeze at 2 am

March 11, 2004

We decided that we would tackle Magic Kingdom first. We found the lines VERY managable. The only glitch was it seemed that many rides were experiencing technical difficulties. We had fast passes for Phantasmic and we were the next group to go in..but it seems that they experienced some technical difficulty and we were sent away. BIG disappointment! Unfortunately I did not get to try the French Toast Loaf at the Bakery on Main street..next time. It seemed that there were many Canadians at the Parks as well as on the cruise
We had PS's for 'Ohanas for our supper. It was GREAT!!! The food was wonderful the service was EXCELLENT and our son really enjoyed the coconut races and Hula hoop contests. We were fortunate enough to have seen the fireworks from the restuarant as well. Overall a gr8 time was had throughout the day!!!

March 12, 2004

We tackled Animal Kingdom in the morning..we had PS's for Donalds Breakfastauros. We REALLY enjoyed the character interaction. The food was good..and the service was once again EXCELLANT!

In the afternoon we went to The Studios...We saw the parade and enjoyed it very much. Must mention that we had told our son that because he was such a good boy and that we knew he had a very rough time at school that we wanted his March Break to be special. This I believe back fired on us....he was very torn about the whole thing...very argumentive..feeling very guilty..saying that his teacher thought he was a bad boy..that he did not deserve this at all. So in between all our activities we were dealing with a very emotional boy..that was very tired. Quite frustrating to my husband and I, to say the least! (Some people should just not teach! She has had an awful impact on our son..which I hope we can resolve...sorry to have bored you with this stuff.)

We had PS's for Prime Time restaurant. The food was very good, we ordered their speciality drinks and they were awesome. Our server was not role playing too much...that was ok..we were being entertained by the table next to us..a poor woman sure was being picked on ..but she was in tears laughing. We enjoyed this meal very as well. After supper we were lucky enough to have seats in the right hand side of the theatre for the Phamtasmic show at the Studios..It was Awesome..don't miss it!!! (I have obviously confused the new 3-d show at Magic Kingdom with this show..but the names were very similar). Again, line ups were not too bad. I won't bore you all with which rides we sat on


March 13, 2004

We had planned to do Epcot all day today.

Big let down ..the Wonders of Life pavillon was closed. But we managed to do a lot. Mission Space and Test Track are not to be missed!!!

We had orginally a PS for the Garden Grill Ice Cream Social which we changed to have lunch there. Good move...Everything was Yummy!! The characters came by our table at least 3 X each. Wow! The service was great..we truly enjoyed this mealas well. I received all my advice from the Restaurants link on this board. It provided to me priceless information. Thanks to you all!!!

Advice for the Parks...Do the Penny presses they are lots of fun! Pal Mickey was fun...but would I recommend it..not too sure...Hopefully next year we can bring him along onboard our Cruise. Take breaks...if you have a plan like I did do not stress if you are not following it to a "T"..afterall you are on vacation. Make sure you take comfortable shoes along!

March 14 - 18, 2004

Yahoo!!! Our time has come to board the Disney Wonder! Check out was a breeze at Port Orleans..and boarding the Wonder was very smooth. We had lunch at Parrot Cay..Yummy Our son had his swimsuit on...as did many other children..Last time there were not as many children ready to swim in the pool during boarding day.

I was very happy that so many fellow Diser's were able to make our dismeet. It was wonderful to place faces with their log on names. They were all such a nice group of people. I bumped into a few throughout the four days...but I will be honest..with all of our son's emotional ups and downs, usually I am pretty good at remembering faces...but this time I am sure I might have walked on right on by many of the diser's and if I did I apologize it was definetely not done intentionally. My mind was absolutely pre-occupied with what are we going to do with him for school next year.

My husband won the unlimited internet raffle..yahoo!!! we were thrilled.

We shared our dining table with a wonderful family from Dallas! They had three children and their middle son made fast friends with our little guy. We could not have been more fortunate with our Tablemates!!!

We also lucked out on our servers, they were EXCELLANT!!! We had Igor and Hank. They were the BEST!! Their attention to the children as well as to us was great!

During Nassau..we walked around only..we had high hopes of visiting Atlantis or going to Cable Beach or near the Hitlon...but our son only wanted to stay onboard and go to the Mickey Pool. So the whole better part of the morning we were at the Mickey pool and then we went strolling. Did not buy much..saw incredible Copy Cat purses..walked through the straw market. We were not disturbed as many have previously reported. It has changed a lot since we last had visited on our Honeymoon cruise.

Castaway Cay was incredible....needless to say I successfully imitated a lobster at the end of the day and am now peeling wonderfully
This island is THE best!!!

The food on the ship was great, the service was great..couldn't ask for more. The only little piece of hesitation I would mention is the Children's club. Last time I felt the councelors were more approachable than this time...but the kids all seemed happy enough.

We have re-booked for March 12, 2005..and have also booked for my parents as a surprise for their 45th anniversary...I might change their plans since my Mom keeps asking if you're our age there is probably nothing to do?

We purchased many pictures..and took many pictures. Now we have a year long to wait for our next memorable trip.

There were a few negatives....but why mention those when the positives outwieght he negatives and afterall we were on holidays.

Thanks again for all the information I was able to retrive from the various boards..theme parks, resorts, restaurants and especially the cruise links.....Everyone is wonderful on these boards and it was great meeting some of you on board.

Any questions I will try to answer.
OOPs sorry it it such a long post....
Have a wonderful week everyone!!!
Vivian

 

[Empire Day]

Thanks for posting a great report I love reading the land/sea reports and there are so few.

I have so long to wait for our second trip

 

[EmmasGrammy]

I really enjoyed your trip report. It sounds like you had a good time. I truly hope your son has a better time at school. Perhaps you should speak to a school counselor. This abuse should not be allowed to continue!!! It is relly hard to restore a child's self esteem once it has been beaten down (Especially by a teacher!). Continue to reenforce him! It's sounds like you are doing a good job of it!!!

Now back to your trip report....
You are hesitant to speak of the negative things, but perhaps your experiences (good or bad) could help others. It they aren't too painful please share them with us.

I am glad you had this nice vacation. You deserved it!!

I can hardly wait until we are on the ship!!!!

 

[Vivig]

Hi there,

Thanks for the encouragement and wonderful feedback!


The two things that I really noticed this time vs the first time on the ship...was the whole 'tipping' expectations from the staff. Maybe since we are on a shorter time period the staff feel that they must mention that they really depend on the tips...maybe so many of them have not been tipped properly that they are driven to mention the importance to them.

These staff memebers really depend on these tips since this is their salary technically...it is sad to hear when some guests think that they are beating the system and decide not to tip or leave something disgraceful. I am sure no one from these boards would stoop that low..but like in any profession there is the ups and downs.

One thing that REALLY ticked me off...was our room steward and his persistence to meet his schedule for the room maintenance. IF we were not out by a certain time (8:15 am)..he would start vacuming outside our door and making sounds to ensure that we leave the room. I am on holidays and really would like to move on my schedule not his. Also, since we had a very tired and emotional little boy...we did not make many of the activities and preferred to give our little guy some down time...well by 6:30pm he would start getting anxious if we had not left the room and again the noises would begin outside our room.

We used to order the Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from room service for our son and he used to LOVE them sicne they were triple deckers...now they are the ones pre-packaged individually. Not as yummy and I am not too sure of the freshness...I realise the potential risks with allergies...we were just a little disappointed.

One thing that I learned on these board that was a big plus for me ..was sending my clothes to be pressed. Cost was minimal with a maximum effect. I will DEFINITELY do this once again next time!

My preferance is the 7 night cruise...I found we were too wiped out after the parks...but definetely to do the cruise after the parks and not before.

 

[EmmasGrammy]

Thanks for posting again! Those were some very legitimate concerns. I hear these terrible stories of the CM's not being tipped and I know how much they depend on their tips. Wonder if it wouldn't be better for DCL to include the tips in the cost of the trip? I'm sure some folks would not agree with me!

The problem with the room steward being rude was a bit upsetting. Was there a "Do Not Disturb" sign you could hang outside your door. I agree with you that this is your vacation and you should not be on anyone's time schedule other than your own. I think I would have reported the rudeness @ guest services.

I am glad you are dwelling on all the good things about your trip. I am sure the magical memories will outshine the bad things.

Thanks again for posting!!!

 

[arizonacolbys]

Sounds like you all had a great time - nothing can ever go perfectly, but it sounds like you all had a great time anyways. Do you have any photos from aboard the Wonder to share? My MIL & family are going on their 1st cruise ever - aboard the Wonder on 4/15 - they are very excited - I'd love to share some photos with them. Thanks & glad you had a great vacation!!!

 

[Vivig]

HI There,

Tried to post the pictures with no success. Sorry I will try one more time ..

Didn't want you to think that I was ignoring your request.


thanks

 

[Credit Man]

Enjoyed your report! Thanks for posting.

 

[Chattyaholic]

I really enjoyed your trip report, thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

I can't imagine your mother NOT wanting to go on a Disney cruise, oh my!! Maybe if she knows others "her age" have enjoyed it she would feel better about it? DH and I took my parents (Dad is 72, Mom 66) on our 4-night Wonder cruise this past January and my Mom is STILL talking about it! Dad has short term memory loss so doesn't remember it, but he did have a good time during the cruise, and we have pictures of his smiling face to prove it. Mom loved the characters and had her picture taken with them every chance she got. I would think your Mom would want to go, if only to delight in your sons's happiness and to share in those special moments.

Did you hang your "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door of your stateroom? If so, then your room steward should NOT have been making sounds so you would leave the room. It's YOUR vacation, you should be able to come and go as you please. I think I would have spoken to him about it, and maybe even decreased his tip (with a note in the envelope telling him why you were doing this). That is just rude. Actually, I don't remember the room stewards ever vacuuming in the morning. People "sleep in" and come and go at different times than they do in the evening. Usually in the evening you are either at dinner or the show. I think that's when they should vacuum, not in the early morning.

Thanks again for sharing.

 

[Vivig]

Thanks Chattyaholic;

We had posted a Do Not Disturb sign......but we did not decrease his tip in any way. We in fact gace him more than the recommended. It seems they never stopped working! It DEFINITELY was annoying, but you're on holidays and don't want to waste your days being upset over soemthing so small that can impact your whole vacation

Well, my parents are booked with us for next year (without their knowledge ) for their 45th Wedding Anniversary but for final payment I will test the waters prior to committing.

Thanks for your feedback I enjoy reading everyone's posts here as well!! The two times we have gone on a cruise I feel that I had gained so much information from these boards that this is my small contribution, EVERYONE is SOOO great on these boards.

Have a gr8 day

 

[Muushka]

Gr8 (I like that!) trip report. Thank you for sharing all of your experiences with us.

We had a problem on our cruise also. Due to rough seas my poor husband spent about half of the cruise in bed. This meant that the room steward could not gain access to our room. He was very kind about the situation. He would always ask how he was feeling, and if we needed anything. A couple of times I just asked for clean towels and switched them out for the used ones. We made it clear that we did not need him to do anything in the room, and I think he was grateful for that. But then we are DVC members and do nicely without the daily cleaning .

I would have been very unhappy if he had pressured us to leave the room. Just wondering, why would you over-tip someone that really did not treat you properly? I don't mean to second guess you, but I'm afraid that it just promotes that type of behavior. I am sure you are a very generous person, and I know those people work so hard. I am afraid I would not have been so generous.

Again, thank you for your great trip report!