Newlyweds Living the Fantasy Trip Report

[MissMet]

Newlyweds Living the Fantasy
October 5th - 14th, 2012
Pre-cruise stay at The Hyatt Regency Orlando
Daytona Blues Festival
Eastern Caribbean Cruise aboard Disney’s Fantasy
Post-cruise stay at Disney’s Beach Club Villa
Food & Wine Festival
Cirque du Soleil, La Nouba

Warning:The content of this trip report may include heavy sarcasm, random side notes, spousal mockery, analytical view points, excessive use of smilies, useless rambling, useful rambling and extensive explanation of major as well as VERY minor details of said trip. Read at your own risk.​

It’s finally that time... it’s time to start our LIVE trip report! So glad to be sharing it with all of you. For those of you who haven’t been onboard... see I already went and did it. I used an expected cruise pun that I promised myself I wouldn’t ever do. Missed that vow to myself when naming the pre trip report! I digress. If you haven’t read our PTR and would like some intense background including where we live, where we work & photos of us, our dogs, our friends, among other things that freak out my paranoid hubby to have on the Internet, head on over to Newlyweds Living the FANTASY: 7 day Eastern PTR.

I gotta say, that didn’t do it for me. It’s not to say that I have doubts of my newfound DIS friends, but I don’t have the faith that you will indeed head on over to our PTR to read every waking detail of our life. Soooo... I will now force you to read, cause we all know DISers are not capable of skimming , a quick rundown of who we are.

​

I’m Lisa. Will be 27 on the 23rd of this month, NYer, watch my nephew full time, went to school for wedding planning, DVC member since I was 19 (bought as soon as I had an income), my 5th DCL cruise (10th total), been going to WDW since I was 3, once won a car, but was only 15 so I was disqualified, huge NY Met fan (sigh), shy with new people, life of the party with friends/fam, travel blog writer, sarcastic (unknowingly at times), anxiety issues (ask about my first snorkeling experience), have traveled to 42 US states, most of the caribbean, Ireland, Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal, Canada, Egypt, Israel (twice) & a layover in Germany. Also, you should know I have a serious obsession with cheeseburgers & ironing. I iron EVERYTHING.

​

My hubby Matt, 33 years old, works in building automation (see PTR for explanation), Jersey guy who gets offended at the mention of Jersey Shore, Yankee fan (boo!! hiss!!) , 1 prior cruise 17 years ago (remembers basically nothing of it), one trip to WDW before our wedding (I ain’t marrying a guy who hasn’t passed the WDW vaca test), has traveled to Canada, Antigua, Brazil & Puerto Rico, has a very silly side, VERY outgoing, adventurous, married his dream girl 5 months ago, does not at all mind wearing wrinkled clothes, also enjoys a good burger, drives a motorcycle, snacks just before meals and only makes one trip at buffets, therefore has a ginormous pyramid of food that at times can not be identified.

Together we have two dogs, my Yorkie, Rocky (who is a girl despite her name) she is 10 years old and still as feisty as ever. She weighs a whopping 4.5 lbs. And then there’s Bania, yes, it’s from Seinfeld, also a girl despite the name, what can I say? We like to confuse people. She’s 5 months old and already 40 lbs. She’s an Olde English Bulldogge, which if you’ve never heard of them, they’re basically a Boxer & an English Bulldog put together. Much taller & healthier than the regular bulldog. The story of how Bania came into our lives can be found in our PTR, but in short, Matt has an awesome wife. Pics also on PTR.

As you should have picked up by now, Matt & I just got married May 5th. It was a dream wedding that we feel so unbelievably blessed to have had. Our wedding was featured in Style Me Pretty as well as it is about to be published in Westchester Magazine’s 2013 wedding issue. We are blown away. All credit goes to our incredible photographers. If you would like to read the article & see some pics on Style Me Pretty head on over to
http://www.stylemepretty.com/2012/09/04/classic-scarborough-wedding-from-ulysses-photography/. That’s it. I vow to not mention our wedding again.

Now that the business side of this trip report is over, let’s get to the real reason you’re all here... our Disney cruise!!!

We will be flying out Friday night after work & staying at the Hyatt at the airport. I will be posting a live trip report each day of the trip both here & on my travel blog. This will be my 4th live trip report so yes, I do know what I’m getting myself into. It’s a lot but it’s my favorite part of the trip. If I wait until I’m home, it never gets finished.

So I hope you enjoy this trip report & make sure to say hello. Also, if you want any info while I’m onboard or at F&WF feel free to ask & I’ll do my best to find the answer, within reason.

 

[MissMet]

Post Index:

Thursday, Oct 4 Twas the night before our vacation...

Friday, Oct 5 Hurry up and wait...

Sat, Oct 6 Pass the eggs.

Sun, Oct 7 Sound the alarms, there's glitter everywhere!

Mon, Oct 8 New friends and old ones too...

Tues, Oct 9 Yo ho, yo ho, no sexy fruits for me.

 

[linco711]

Can't wait to hear more

 

[marciemouse]

Looking forward to the report! My husband and I met on a trip to Israel. I'm thinking if you've been there twice, you should maybe know how to spell it now though!

 

[MissMet]

Can't wait to hear more

Me too!

Looking forward to the report! My husband and I met on a trip to Israel. I'm thinking if you've been there twice, you should maybe know how to spell it now though!

Oh, gosh. That's just the start of my typos. I've been spoiled by my Mac's auto correct & have become a sloppy typer, letting my mac do all the work. Auto correct left me hanging. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[jedijill]

Wow, love your wedding pics! I'll be on the cruise too! Hopefully we will run into each other...well, not literally!

Jill in CO

3 more sleeps!

 

[MissMet]

Wow, love your wedding pics! I'll be on the cruise too! Hopefully we will run into each other...well, not literally!

Jill in CO

3 more sleeps!

Thanks!

 

[shawy1269]

Congrats on the recent nuptials. My wedding is November 10th and I will be honeymooning on the Fantasy Easter Dec. 1st. Can't wait to hear how you liked the cruise!

 

[bbn1122]

Congratulations......and Go Mets!!

He must really be a great guy, despite being a Yankee fan....

....I live down the Jersey Shore, so I know how your DH feels...

Looking forward to your trip report, have a wonderful cruise.

 

[MissMet]

Congrats on the recent nuptials. My wedding is November 10th and I will be honeymooning on the Fantasy Easter Dec. 1st. Can't wait to hear how you liked the cruise!

Thank you!

Congrats to you!!! Try and enjoy every moment. Don't stress...if things go wrong only you will know. Have an awesome wedding day & an incredibly relaxing honeymoon.

Hope you enjoy the trip report & it works as a relaxing escape from the wedding crazy.

Congratulations......and Go Mets!!

He must really be a great guy, despite being a Yankee fan....

....I live down the Jersey Shore, so I know how your DH feels...

Looking forward to your trip report, have a wonderful cruise.

Let's go Mets!!!

I always vowed I'd never marry a Yankee fan... I wanted to be a double threat & marry a Red Sox fan. So yeah, he definitely is a great guy to have change this hardened baseball heart.

Thanks & welcome!

 

[jessrose18]

signing up

 

[MissMet]

signing up

Welcome!

 

[desamnik]

My dh and I are boarding the Fantasy on November 3rd to celebrate our 15th anniversary and also his Birthday. We are traveling without our kids, so your report will be very helpful to us!!

Congrats on your wedding!!

 

[macfinn]

all right...we are waiting patiently for the first report....i just hope they get the Yankee game on Sunday...your husband must be happy....Yankee playoffs and a cruise on Disney...and not having to hear about that other NY team....

 

[MissMet]

My dh and I are boarding the Fantasy on November 3rd to celebrate our 15th anniversary and also his Birthday. We are traveling without our kids, so your report will be very helpful to us!!

Congrats on your wedding!!

Thank you! So exciting for you guys! 15 years! ...we're at 5 months. I love reading trip reports from an adult only view. It's really different, so hopefully I can get you all the info possible.

all right...we are waiting patiently for the first report....i just hope they get the Yankee game on Sunday...your husband must be happy....Yankee playoffs and a cruise on Disney...and not having to hear about that other NY team....

I'm about to post right now. Yeah, I would think they'll have the post season games... hurray!

 

[MissMet]

Twas the night before vacation, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Not so much... ​

Hey guys! Well it is the night before our departure and the house is filled with excitement, sad dogs, Vitamin C, draino, mouse traps and more Viatmin C.

Today started off like any other day, well except that Matt had to work in lower Manhattan... I mean lower, like next to the Brooklyn Bridge low. So he was up at 4:30am. I had stayed up until after 1:30am and woke up at a refreshing 6:30am. Needless to say we're both tired & should sleep really well tonight, even though it's the night before we leave. Upon waking up after a refreshing 5 hours of sleep, I had an "uh, oh moment". I woke up with a sore throat and aches. I knew this was going to happen. Both my sister-in-law & my nephew have had a cold all week. I have been trying to stay as far as possible from them... kinda hard when you watch the little guy 9 hours a day, 5 days a week! So sure enough I caught their bug. It's not the end of the world though. Not only did I try to keep as much distance and possible & "wash, wash wash your paws" (sorry too much Disney Jr. in my life) but I also started doubling up with Vitamin C from the second I heard they were sick this past Sunday. I'm already feeling better tonight than I did this morning so I'm encouraged. As long as I don't have a repeat of my last cruise aboard the NCL Epic. Matt refers to that cruise (that he wasn't lucky enought to join us for) The Toxic Tonsil Cruise. The first morning of that cruise I had to go to the Medical Center because my tonsils were so swollen they were touching! At that point I knew that that wasn't just some cold! I spent the rest of the cruise in my stateroom near death, worse yet, I had one of those new studio rooms! I LOVED the room, but it's not the kind of room you want to be stuck in all week. So I'm encouraged because my tonsils are exactly where they should be as of tonight.

Now for some pretty big news. Matt had to work a full day tomorrow, therefore as most of you know we were taking the last flight out having us arrive at MCO at 11pm. Well, Matt's boss is awesome & is letting him work a "half day" from home! So we are now heading out at 2:15pm tomorrow & arriving at MCO at just before 5pm. But wait there's more! We were just going to get to the Hyatt early, have an overpriced airport dinner & then swim & relax. Then it hit us!! Practically my mom's whole family, ok, not whole family, more like her two sisters & brother-in-law are in town to visit my mom's brother in Daytona Beach. Yeah, my mom left Tuesday! I knew she was going to be away while we were away but I didn't realize it'd be the week leading up to my trip when I was planning on her helping with Austin. Ugh. What a week! Anyway!! My Uncle lives in Daytona Beach & every year they have the Daytona Blues Festival. My Uncle runs the festival. They're all going to support him & now Matt & I are renting a car, driving up & surprising my Uncle. My Uncle has been doing these festivals I think for 3 years now. He started doing them as a tribute to my late Uncle (the oldest of the bunch) who passed away from cancer a few years back. My Uncle who passed away was very involved in the music scene & was one of the Allman Brother's back up drummers. My Uncle who runs the thing only recently got into the music world, when he moved to FL to help take care of my ailing Uncle. Ah, Italian families. Wouldn't trade it for the world!

Long story short... I wasn't going to be leaving my house until 6ish tomorrow & now I'm leaving at 12ish!!! I actually am not too stressed & have everything done that I can. This is the first vacation that I'm really prepared for. Usually I pull almost all nighters trying to get everything done. So I've been relaxing most of the night with Matt watching TV. Well, I WAS relaxing. That was until I'm sitting on my couch & all of the sudden a mouse goes runnin by us & hightails it for under our TV stand!! Matt is basically not moved by this scenario & continues to surf the web. Ummmmm! Helllooooo! There's a mouse in my LIVING ROOM!!!!! No joke, he actually tells me to come & relax with him & we'll take care of it later. "It should go back to wherever it came from." Wait. You want me to lay on the couch & relax while a mouse is possibly building a nest in my love seat?! Do you not know who you're talking to??? So I decide I'm not waiting for the exterminator to come tomorrow. No way jack! So I head to my room to get my hair a little more acceptable for mouse trap shopping & while I'm in there this massive beetle thing comes flying at me! I'm already jumpy due to the fact that THERE'S A MOUSE IN MY LIVING ROOM and now flying locusts are attacking me. What kind of crazy is going on here? I've lived in this house for almost 3 years & I've never had any of this. I think Bania & Rocky are trying to sabotage us & got their wilderness friends to come for a party. So after this fiasco I also remember the shower drain was real slow. So I must of looked quite interesting buying mouse traps, draino & clorox wipes at Stop & Shop. So that was my night so far. We're gonna watch some Impractical Jokers as we wait for dooms day for our mouse friend. Hold your ears Mickey!

Tomorrow I'm going for my mani & pedi while Matt & my dad watch Austin. Kinda thinking about planting a hidden camera for that one.

Next time I post I'll be lounging at the Hyatt MCO!

 

[Sparrow78]

Congratulations! Have an awesome trip and can't wait to read about it!

 

[disneysunshine85]

Have an awesome time! I will be on the fantasy in Dec so I am suuuuper excited to read your report! I may do one myself!

 

[Cheryl726]

Yeah your trips here! Have a great time and looking forward to reading all about it!

 

[MissMet]

Hello from sunny Florida, well it was...it’s now 1am. We made it here and what a fiasco it was. I woke up wide awake at 6am. I didn’t need to be up until 7:30am but for whatever reason (nonstop coughing probably had something to do with it) I was awake. I laid there until 6:30am hoping I’d fall back to sleep since I knew what a long day it’d be for us. After laying there for 30 minutes I just decided to get up and have a nice relaxing morning before the crazy hit. I surfed the internet a little, transferred my $630 Disney reward dollars to my card & unsubscribed to all junk emails that I had been just dealing with for a while so that way checking my email while on board would be much quicker. I have a Outlook type of email program on my macbook, so since Internet on the ship is so expensive, I log on & get all my email, log off, read and reply to them all, then sign back on & send them. So usually I only use about 2-3 minutes of internet time to check & respond to email. I also write my trip report in Pages (word) & then just log on, copy & paste and then log off. Usually takes about 4-5 minutes. I have this down to a science, since my 14 day DCL Transatlantic cruise. I live blogged that two week trip every day and only needed 55 minutes for the two week trip. Matt got up at around 8ish and had some work to wrap up. After I was done with all my little errands it was time for Austin to make his final appearance. I’m gonna miss him! My dad showed up at 9:15am so that I could go get my mani/pedi. The mani/pedi was pretty uneventful, well except for the woman stabbing me repeatedly with the cuticle cutter UNDER my nail. My big toes is still sore from it. I don’t really know what the deal was with that. After I got back, we closed up the suitcases, loaded up, had lunch & said our final goodbyes to Bania & Rocky. We’re off!

We got to the airport early since my dad need to be back by a certain time. We arrived at 12:20 for a 2:15 flight. Rather than flying out of JFK or LaGuardia and have all the hassles that come along with those airports, we fly out of a small local airport in Westchester. This airport is tiny. There is one tiny restaurant/bar, a dunkin donut stand & a news stand. Period. Not the best place to spend some time. Upon checking in we’re informed that our plane is delayed an hour. Ugh. Okay, now we’ll be getting in at 6pm. Still much better than the original 11pm. So We head to the little bar area and Matt spends the next HOUR talking to a guy about sports. Now don’t get me wrong, I love baseball talk but not with a Yankee fan & a Braves fan. Only thing that could make that worse is if a Philly fan joined in. After that fun we headed thru security, but not before treating ourselves to a Boston Cream Donut, and once that was devoured, into the ONE terminal in the airport. It was packed! People sitting all over the floor, standing room only. We spend the next 3 HOURS waiting for our flight to board. They kept pushing it back by 10 minute increments until we hit the two hour mark. We finally took off exactly two hours after our scheduled departure time. The flight was pretty uneventful. It was Jetblue so we had the DirecTV and the gave us the three movies for free due to the delay.

We landed in Orlando to rainy, ugly weather. It’s now 6:45. We still have to get our luggage, check in to our room, drop the luggage, pick up the rental car and then drive the hour and fifteen minutes to Daytona Beach. Once off the plane I hightailed it for the hotel to check in while Matt went to baggage claim. Once I checked in I met him at baggage claim where we waited for an additional 20 minutes for our luggage!!! What is going on today?? So we finally get our luggage, head up to our room and run right out. In this short 5 minute exchange Matt was able to notice that we were upgraded to a runway view. I didn’t get any pics of the room, because of the time constrains. I’ll get a picture of the view tomorrow morning. We headed to the rental car and we were finally on the road at just before 8pm!! The drive to Daytona Beach is real easy so that was really good. We arrived at the Festival just before 9pm and still hadn’t even had dinner. My cousin met us in the parking lot and walked us in to where my family were all hanging out. Matt got my Uncle really good. They were all manning the ticket table and my Uncle was standing by there with his back to us so Matt walked up behind him and said, “$25 for a ticket?! That’s absurd!!!”. My Uncle turned around and the look on his face was priceless. We thought he was gonna give Matt a right hook until he realized who it was. He was really blessed that we came & we were blessed that he didn’t knock out Matt. Next they handed us cold pizza, which at that point tasted like Palo Brunch to us. We ate that in seconds while greeting all the family. One slice of pizza was not going to do it for us, so Matt got BBQ ribs which he said were really good. I got a corn dog and it was “interesting”. The finale was a deep fried Pop Tart and that was amazing! After gorging ourselves we headed back to the area my family was to spend some time with them while we waited for Matt’s childhood friend, who is temporarily living in the area, to meet us. Once he arrived we headed in to hear some great blues music. It was fun. Great music and a great time with family, old friend & drunk people. I love drunk people- they’re so fun to watch! My favorite was this one couple who couldn’t dance at all but that didn’t stop them. I was cracking up. At around 11pm we decided we should head back. It had been a long day. The drive home was pretty uneventful. We returned the car and on the walk back to the hotel Matt HAD to get a McDonalds double cheeseburger. It was probably the worst double cheeseburger in the history of McDonald’s Double Cheeseburgers.

Sorry this report is more on the dull side tonight. As you know, I’ve been fighting a slight cold. I felt really good today, basically just a runny nose. That was until our decend on the plane. As we were landing I started feeling a sharp pain in my left ear. It was pretty bad the whole time. Once we were on the ground it felt clogged but not the usual airplane way. It felt like I was holding a seashell up to my left ear. Not only am I struggling to hear out of it but it’s aching a little and I’m hearing like whooshing sounds. At 1am it still feels like that. It’s been like that all night. I do get some relief when I tilt my head a certain way it totally clears. Hurray! So it’s been a pretty misrable night for me. Tomorrow I’m going to pick up some “swimmers ear” to see if that’ll help at all.

Well that’s it for tonight. Big day tomorrow. Too tired to post the few pics we took, so I'll post them in the morning. Night.