Mike & Missy Plus Six-A 9/11/11 Dream Trip Report! Update-12/08-COMPLETE!!

[UGAFan0829]

Hello, and welcome!
For those of you who haven't read my Pre-TR, my name is Missy. My DH, Mike and I are huge Disney fans and were very fortunate to have been able to cruise on the 9/11 sailing of the Dream, along with some of our family. This was our 5th sailing aboard DCL, and probably our last for at least a couple of years-but more on that later!

If you'd like to check out my Pre-TR to get a little more background on the trip, you can find it here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2758353

Now, on to the introductions...
As I said, there's me, Missy. I'm 32 and have been in banking for 11 years now. It's definitely not my dream job, but it helps to get us to Disney every now and then, so I really can't complain!

Then there's my best friend and DH, Mike, who's 34. Mike works for an industrial tire company and happens to have a boss who totally understands our love for Disney! I'm also very lucky to have a husband who enjoys Disney and understands the "magic" as much as I do!

Then there's Gayle and Allen. Gayle is also Mike's sister. She and her daughter Brandi, cruised with us on the Magic back in 2009, but this was Allen's 1st Disney cruise.

Then there's Dustin #1, who is our nephew and the son of my sister. He's 17, and this was his very first cruise and really his first big vacation.

Next is Dustin #2 who is also our nephew, but is the son of Gayle and Allen. He's 19 and this was also his first cruise ever!

And last, but certainly not least is Brandi and Brandon. Brandi is Gayle and Allen's daughter, and Brandon is her boyfriend of 2 years. They are such a cute couple and the whole family is just waiting for their engagement!

 

[UGAFan0829]

I've never done this on any of my other TR's before, so I thought I'd try something new this time...I'm going to try and post the link to each update here so that it will be a little easier for everyone to navigate!!

Making our arrival!

Checking out our room! Part 1

Checking out our room! Part 2

Downtown Disney!

'Ohana!

It's time to board the Dream! Part 1

It's time to board the Dream! Part 2

Bon Voyage! Part 1

Bon Voyage! Part 2

The New Animator's Palate!

The Dream after dark!

Fun in the sun at Atlantis!

Dress-up night in Enchanted Garden!

Enjoying Castaway a different way!

Pirate Night!

Princesses and Palo Brunch!

Characters Galore!

Our final dinner on the Dream!

A Dismal Disembarkation!

Final Thoughts and Future Plans!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Our trip started bright and early Saturday morning. Ok, so maybe it wasn’t yet bright outside, but it certainly was early!! The plan was that Mike, Dustin and I would meet up with the rest of the gang at 4:00 in a parking lot near the interstate. As you can see, we were running just a few minutes behind, but thankfully nothing major!

If you’ve read any of my other TR’s then you know that we are more likely to be a few minutes late than on time!!
After meeting up with everyone, we were off for the long ride south! We ended up stopping for breakfast and then a couple of potty breaks before we finally made our way under that magical sign! It was at this point that I started clapping my hands and singing “Hercules, Hercules!” Mike’s use to it by now, but Dustin thought I had completely lost my mind!!
(As we made our way through one of the toll booths along the way, I noticed that the Love Bugs were out and about, and you can see the evidence of them on the windshield in this picture!!)

Dustin was taking in the sights as Mike navigated us over to AKL …

We passed this awesome sight on our way, and it was really sad knowing that we were so close and yet we still wouldn’t be able to ride!

We made our way through the security gate and found our way to Kidani Village!

We all parked and made our way into the Lobby. I went to check us in while everyone else checked the place out.

The CM who checked me in was super nice, and it turns out that she has grandchildren who live in the same city as us! I thought this was really cool since it’s a pretty small town! I was also happy when she told me that our room was ready!!

Up next: Checking out our room!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Checking in!

I think it is so great that you got to experience this first trip with the boys. It must be wonderful seeing it all through fresh eyes again.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Checking in!

I think it is so great that you got to experience this first trip with the boys. It must be wonderful seeing it all through fresh eyes again.

Thank you, Lessa! As always, I'm so glad you're here! Now, I've got to get caught up on all your fun and adventures!

BTW, do you know what I'm doing wrong in my update links? I clicked the one above to try and get it to work and it just gives me an error page. How do you do yours?

 

[Jennifer48]

Yay you've started! Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[Pinkocto]

You just got back and we already get an update, how wonderful is this! Can't wait to hear what you thought of the hotel!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Thank you, Lessa! As always, I'm so glad you're here! Now, I've got to get caught up on all your fun and adventures!

BTW, do you know what I'm doing wrong in my update links? I clicked the one above to try and get it to work and it just gives me an error page. How do you do yours?

It looks like you have the http:// in the link twice. You can do links two ways

Where I type bracket I mean [ or ]

1) bracket url=" put your link here" bracket Name of update bracket /url bracket

The above type of link will take you to that post only

2) bracket post=insert post number bracket Name of update bracket /post bracket

So for instance this is the url of your update http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=42685504&postcount=3

The post number you would insert is 42685504

Should look something like this

bracket post=42685504 bracket Name of update bracket /post bracket

That type of link will take the reader to the update but will also show the rest of the page under it.

Make sense?

 

[UGAFan0829]

Yay you've started! Can't wait to hear all about it!

So glad you're here, as always!!

You just got back and we already get an update, how wonderful is this! Can't wait to hear what you thought of the hotel!

I'm excited to get started! I can't wait to share it all with everyone!!

It looks like you have the http:// in the link twice. You can do links two ways

Where I type bracket I mean [ or ]

1) bracket url=" put your link here" bracket Name of update bracket /url bracket

The above type of link will take you to that post only

2) bracket post=insert post number bracket Name of update bracket /post bracket

So for instance this is the url of your update http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=42685504&postcount=3

The post number you would insert is 42685504

Should look something like this

bracket post=42685504 bracket Name of update bracket /post bracket

That type of link will take the reader to the update but will also show the rest of the page under it.

Make sense?

You are such a genius, Lessa! I know you've helped me more than once, so thank you, thank you, thank you for always being so helpful! It works perfectly now!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

You are such a genius, Lessa! I know you've helped me more than once, so thank you, thank you, thank you for always being so helpful! It works perfectly now!

You are welcome!

 

[iloverags2]

Yea! Another Missy report! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Dream.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Yea! Another Missy report! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Dream.

Thank you, Cindy!! I hope you enjoy it!

 

[mousetravel]

Hey, I'm here!! I love the AKL pictures. Can't wait to see the room pics.

I also have trouble getting links on here. You know how you can give your TR links a "name" rather than just using the address link? Well, I can't figure that out at all! I just gave up so that's why all of my TR links are just the address link, rather than a title.

 

[LuvEeyore]

Joining in for the fun. Cant wait to hear more!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Hey, I'm here!! I love the AKL pictures. Can't wait to see the room pics.

I also have trouble getting links on here. You know how you can give your TR links a "name" rather than just using the address link? Well, I can't figure that out at all! I just gave up so that's why all of my TR links are just the address link, rather than a title.

So glad you're here my friend!! I can't wait to share the AKL pics!! It was better than I could have imagined!!

The links thing was confusing at first, but I think I finally have it figured out.

Joining in for the fun. Cant wait to hear more!!

Thanks for being here!! I can't wait to share it with y'all!

 

[UGAFan0829]

This update is going to be very picture intensive!! There were a lot of details to take in, and I tried to get shots of as much as I could!!

After getting us all checked-in and finding out our room was ready, we decided to go park the car and grab the luggage that we'd need for the night. I love the fact that AKL has a parking garage--it's definitely very convenient!

We parked pretty close to the elevators, and little did we know that all we had to do was go up a couple floors, make a right and our room was the first one on the right!! Gotta love that!

When we walked in, I immediately fell in love!! Disney really did these rooms up right!
This bedroom was off to the right of the living room.

The bathroom that was connected to the bedroom-

The living room and kitchen area--I loved the granite counter tops:

The orange chair that Allen is sitting in made out in to a bed:

And the couch did as well:

This bathroom was pretty much right at the front door. When you walked into the foyer, it was on the right, and it was perfect for the two Dustin's to use:

And my favorite part--the Master which Mike and I claimed:

The bathroom was amazing! I just wish I'd had time to acutally use the jacuzzi tub!

Close up of the art on the wall in the shower and above the tub:

There was also a nice size closet in the bathroom area as well that contained a small safe, but I didn't think to take pictures!

Continued in next post...

 

[Pinkocto]

Love the pictures! That place pulls on my heart strings that's for sure! That Lion King painting in the bathroom is so cute!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Next, I took a couple shots of/from the balcony. Our view looking straight out from the living room door-That's the bus stop in the top right corner:

The balcony was pretty big! Looking left you can see the door to our bedroom:

And looking right you can see the door the other bedroom:

Then I tried getting some shots of all the deatils...
On the living room wall above the table:

To the side of the table:

On the entertainment center:

The lamps in our bedroom:

I loved the headboard!

Light fixtures in the bathroom:

Backs of one of the chairs:

On the desk in our room:

And lastly, the carpet! Gotta love finding those hidden Mickeys:

To say that we were pleased with the room is an understatement! The attention to detail was amazing!! Mike and I both agreed that we'd love to come back and stay here for about a week!!

Up next: Downtown Disney!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Love the pictures! That place pulls on my heart strings that's for sure! That Lion King painting in the bathroom is so cute!

I'm so glad you enjoyed them! I know I took a lot, but there was so much to see, and I know there are others out there like me who probably never knew how beautiful this resort really is!

The Lion King is one of Mike's favorite movies, and Pumbaa is one of his favorite characters, so I think that had a lot to do with why he liked it so much! It's definitely an amazing place!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Does anyone know how I can resize my pictures in Photobucket...I'd like to make them just a tad bit smaller so that they don't take up some much room on my posts!