Now I Know What a Lovebug Is...An April/May Trip Report

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So all this time I've wondered about lovebugs. I wonder no more.

Yeah...ewwww....I know...

 

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The players...

Me (Lori ~ 28)
Favorite Rides/Attractions - Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, and The American Adventure
Favorite Park - Magic Kingdom
Favorite Restaurant - Artist Point
Favorite Resort - Wilderness Lodge
Favorite Disney Snack - Plaza Sundae
Favorite Character - Belle

DH (Aaron ~ 30)
Favorite Rides - Pirates of the Caribbean and Toy Story Mania
Favorite Park - Magic Kingdom
Favorite Restaurant - Artist Point
Favorite Resort - Wilderness Lodge
Favorite Disney Snack - Minnie's Strawberry Bar
Favorite Characters - Goofy and Gurgi

DS (Eli ~ 19 months)
Favorite Rides - Peter Pan's Flight, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Grand Fiesta Tour with the Three Caballeros, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
Favorite Park - Epcot
Favorite Restaurant - Chef Mickey's
Favorite Resort - Contemporary
Favorite Disney Snack - Waffle Cone from Fountainview
Favorite Character - Donald
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The Itinerary...
The purpose of the trip was not Disney World (gasp) but a cruise on the Celebrity Century to Cozumel. And since we were going to be in Florida anyway, we decided to stop by the World for a couple of days and make good use of our annual passes.

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Our trip began on April 24th. We left early in the AM to make it to Savannah, GA, in time for easter lunch at the Pirate's House.

After hanging out by the Savannah River and enjoying River Street, we headed back to our awesome room at the Mulberry Inn. It put me in the mind of the Grand Floridian.

After a peaceful night of sleep, we were up bright and early to make the journey to Miami for our first ever cuise.

 

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I'll keep this part of the TR short since it's not really Disney related. We went on a four day cruise to Cozumel. Our ship was the Celebrity Century. We had a sky suite on the 12th deck.

Pros
1. Very spacious deck
2. Clean room
3. Great staff
4. Cozumel itself
5. Bed and pillows
6. Good service
7. A few good dishes
8. Beautiful ocean views
9. Seeing Cuba
10. Mayan ruins

Cons
1. Food
2. Lack of entertainment
3. Floating timeshare feel
4. Organization
5. Policy enforcement (esp. dress code)
6. Onboard mall
7. Food (It was so bad my DH said to put it on the list again.)
8. Onboard water

I loved seeing the ocean and Cuba. Cozumel was beautiful. DS tried to eat a baby hermit crab on Passion Island; DH saw an iguana. We had wonderful interactions with the staff. Our room and the ship were always clean. DH really loved the bed and pillows. (I thought they were okay.) The balcony on the sky suite was awesome. We spent a lot of time there (more there than anywhere else on the ship I think).

All that being said, our experience on the Century was not up to our expectations. It lacked organization in that what we were sold was not exactly what we got (i.e. early debarkation, etc...) unless we pursued it repeatedly. There were some definite policy issues. When we booked, the sales rep was very specific about the dress code. What we saw on the ship was a different story. It was annoying in the sense that I spent a lot of time packing carefully when it really didn't matter - not even on formal night. DH really hated the food with few exceptions. It was extremely salty and overly fake gourmet. This may have been (at least the salty part) because of the onboard water. It had a funny taste and broke my DH and DS's skin out.
I was most disappointed in the lack of entertainment. It felt like a floating timeshare. Being a WDW veteran, I am used to and expect a certain amount of return trip advertisement. However, 90% of the shows on the ship seemed to be directed at why Celebrity Life is so great and superior to other lines. The onboard shopping was lackluster at best. There was little to buy other than make-up, perfume, cigarettes, and alcohol.

Honestly, if we hadn't already made our down payment on the Dream for next April, I might be reluctant to ever take another cruise. Anyone else ever taken a Celebrity cruise? Any thoughts on it? Especially the Celebrity Century.

 

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Our Ship

Port of Miami

Cozumel

Passion Island

 

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Our Balcony

Seashells

Muster Drill

Cuba (and maybe Cuban refugees???)

 

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Day One - May 29th

We checked into the Contemporary Resort around noon. This was a big deal for DH because it's been his dream to stay in the Contemporary since he was a little kid. So for his birthday this year, DS and I gave him his dream come true.

Arriving

Checking in

Headed to room 4547 on the ninth floor

Arriving at room 4547

DH's aboslute delight upon entering his room in the Contemporary

DS checking out the view

Our Magic Kingdom view from room 4547 on the ninth floor

 

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The Contemporary really surprised me. I've talked with people that say it is run-down and sterile. Someone even said it was the least Disney of all the Disney resorts. DH and I thought a short trip there would be good just in case it did lack that magic the other resorts have. Boy, were we ever surprised. The Contemporary radiated Disney magic for us and, especially, DS. We would absolutely stay in the Contemporary for a long trip (assuming the price for a MK view room was reasonable).

Here are some pictures of our room at the Contemporary.

 

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More pictures of our room...

 

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The view from our room...

 

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This was the first time we'd ever been to the Flower and Garden so we were excited. Our trip to Epcot started out by taking the monorail a couple of floors below us over to the TTC for the Epcot monorail.

DS always holds on when the monorail spiel says to hold on. LOL!

 

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The view of Epcot as we came in on the monorail was amazing. I wish it was F&G at Epcot all the time. Our basic plan that day was to enjoy the festival, buy pins for DH and DS's collections, buy an F&G tee for me, visit the World Showcase because it is DS's favorite, sneak in a few rides, and eat at La Hacienda.

We rode Spaceship Earth first. Then, we pin shopped. DS wanted an ice cream from Fountainview, but the line was out the door. We went over to Club Cool for a drink instead. DS loves the Beverly. Seriously. He drank two little cups of it before I made him quit for fear he would get sick. I tried to give him somethink good like the Kinley. He spit it out. Wow...

Anyway, DH and I were starving because the last time we ate was on the cruise ship at 6 that morning. We went over to the Liberty Inn and split a chicken tender lunch. DS was passed out at this point. I think he may have realized the error of his Beverly loving ways and decided to sleep off the shame.

We toured the WS until dinner at La Hacienda.

This is his "please mom stop taking pictures of me" look. LOL

 

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More pre-dinner pictures...

Pins for the collections

Can you tell he loves pin shopping?

 

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More pre-dinner pictures...

 

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More pre-dinner pictures...

 

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More pre-dinner pictures...

The next two pictures are of the exhibit the family built on the TV show on HG.

 

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More pre-dinner pictures...

We were very excited to visit on the day of the Royal Wedding.

 

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More pre-dinner pictures...

 

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More pre-dinner pictures...

Since it was our anniversary, we got a special phone call from Mickey Mouse. That was the first time that had ever happened. I love The American Adventure cast members. I think they go out of their way to make Disney World extra special.

DS loves the Mexican pavillion. He made a bee line for "the Donald ride".

We added to our Donald toy collection in Norway. DS's skin was still a mess from the cruise. Something in the water or linens triggered the contact dermatitis rash.

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These pictures conclude our first day of the mini trip. We ate dinner at La Hacienda shortly after DS bought his new Donald. Dinner was not good. DH and I had looked forward to it since we booked it in October. The platter for two had ample food. The food was just terrible. It's like they tried to cover up lack of taste with hot. I love hot food as long as it has a good taste to go along with the heat. This just didn't. The salsa tasted like Chef Boyardee pizza sauce with hot peppers in it.

The waiter also charged us for DS's drink. We've never been charged for his drink before. I always thought kids under 3 got their drink for free.

The best part of the experience was DS and the salsa. He insisted on eating it. After he took a bite, he started panting and going "hot, hot, hot". Then, he'd make this wretched face and made this weird blowing sound on his lips trying to cool them down.

We had a nice view for Illuminations. The problem was we were seated at 8ish. The waiter rushed us through our meal. DH dawdled over the food as much as he could so we could watch it. We caught a few minutes of it and left because the waiter kept checking to see if we'd left.

I had a terrible migraine kicking in at that point. I also think I had a mild case of food poisoning from something I'd eaten on the cruise ship at breakfast. We wandered over to the Seas with DS and took a ride. He was cranky because his ears had started to hurt during dinner, and my head was about to explode when we finished in there.

Leaving really stunk because Epcot was dead. Soarin' had a 15 minute wait. Seriously. However, grad nights were going on (making transportation a mess) and it was clear that DS and I were not up to par. DH, being the super dad and husband he is, took us back to the room and took care of us.

The grad night fireworks woke me up. Thankfully, my migraine had gone away. I watched them from bed best as I could without my contacts in or glasses on. It was awesome to see them from my bed. (Might I add the beds at the Contemporary are sweet!)

Tomorrow...the Magic Kingdom!

 

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Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom were awesome. I was surprised that Saturday morning was that slow. Here's what we rode before our 10:00 ADR at the Crystal Palace: Buzz Lightyear, Pooh, Snow White, Teacups, Peter Pan, Peter Pan, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Jungle Cruise. It was quite the accomplished morning. The thing that surprised me most was Peter Pan had a 5 minute wait at 9AM. The park had been open for an hour at that point. It was the first ride DS ever asked to ride twice. He said "again" and clapped as we exited the ride.

R.I.P. ball...

 

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More pre-breakfast pictures...