"Pirate, Your Reputation Precedes You!" The Stitchs Do WDW & The Dream! New 9/7!

[StitchIsOurHero]

Great pics!

Thank you!!

Great updates! I've been reading along, but mostly on my phone-hard to comment!

What an awesome picture of D and Pluto!

Thanks!! As you can tell, D was alllllll into it! I loved watching him! You're almost to your trip!! Have a blast!!

Awesome customer service at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's great that they gave you new mugs. Hopefully it made up for the day before.

Glad you were able to get on the ship with everything you needed. I hate those experiences. I am definitely not the type of person who is usually late. I get very stressed out if I think we are going to be even 5 minutes late to something. I do not think I would do well if I thought we were going to be late for a cruise.

Loving the character pictures. The individual interaction must have been amazing .

You definitely can't beat Disney customer service! We must be very much alike...I cannot stand to be late. The thought of being late panicked me more than not having my medicine!

The individual interaction was awesome! D wasn't much for the kids club idea, but he loved just seeing the characters everywhere!

Ok, y'all...update coming soon!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

By that time, it was TIME TO SEE OUR ROOM!!! WOOOHOOOO!!! We were in Stateroom 5522 (a Category 8A Deluxe Family Oceanview Stateroom)—when I booked it, it was the last available cabin on the ship. I had since then seen pics of it, and I was pretty excited! We were all thrilled to see what it was like! I had also ordered the birthday decoration package for the guys, so I was excited for them to see their surprise!

Finally. . .we were to our room!!


(living room side with closet)


(bedroom side)




(birthday magnet on bathroom door)


(birthday decoration!)



Honestly, I was blown away by the size of the room and by how pretty it was!! D was blown away by the 2 portholes! He quickly ran over and plopped down in one!



Now, right about this point, I had another minor panic. I had ordered gifts from The Perfect Gift for the guys (just little baskets for their birthdays). I thought they were supposed to be in the room when we got there, and they weren’t.

So, I headed off in search of them, leaving D & Brian to hang out in the room. I tried to call The Perfect Gift, but they were closed. I somehow came through The Vibe trying to come from our stateroom, but then I got stuck on the opposite side of it. I have absolutely ZERO directional skills, but I finally got back to Guest Services. They were so nice, and they checked on the packages. They said they wouldn’t be delivered (any of them) until a little later, since there were so many for this cruise. Relieved, I headed back to enjoy the room more!

 

[disny_luvr]

Great update! I love, love, love your room. I contemplated booking an 8A but in the end went with an 8C only so we could have the split bath.

I love all the character interactions already and you've only been on the ship for a short time. That is one thing that I am really looking forward to. My kids love the characters!

You made a really good point about being able to talk to the people sitting at the tables beside your table. I've never thought of that before. Now I feel like requesting a 4-top for our family might be best. Hopefully we'll get nice "neighbors" and be able to talk to them, but we don't have to either if we don't want to.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Great update! I love, love, love your room. I contemplated booking an 8A but in the end went with an 8C only so we could have the split bath.

I love all the character interactions already and you've only been on the ship for a short time. That is one thing that I am really looking forward to. My kids love the characters!

You made a really good point about being able to talk to the people sitting at the tables beside your table. I've never thought of that before. Now I feel like requesting a 4-top for our family might be best. Hopefully we'll get nice "neighbors" and be able to talk to them, but we don't have to either if we don't want to.

Can't wait to read more!

We fell in love with this room too! If it had been available when I booked, I might have gotten the 8C just to get the split bath. I was glad this was the only one available, though, because we LOVED it!! I bet you will love the split bath one too!!

The character interaction was incredible, and it only got better. It was like they were just on the cruise with you!

I think you will like the 4-top table. We are going again next March, and I have already put in the request (just because I did it when we booked). I think it works out best for us!

Another Update Below!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

When I got back to the room (noticeably calmer), I found out that Brian had been going over the Navigator. He wanted to go to the DVC presentation, but he didn’t want to just leave D and I alone in the room. I knew that I could unpack the carryons and also do some decorating of my own while he was gone, so I told him I didn’t mind. He headed out to the presentation, and D and I got to working on the room!

Just a few minutes after Brian left, our luggage started arriving. For some reason, I had been afraid it would take a long time, but it didn’t. I unpacked each bag as it got there and put it away. There was SO much room in that stateroom! I also loved being able to put my suitcases and stuff under the elevated bed. . .great design!

D and I decorated the door while Brian was gone, too:


(Designs courtesy of Eve on the Cruise Board)

We also met our Stateroom Hostess during that time. Her name was Layli, and she was SO nice! D just loved her!

D decided it would be time to play with the car hauler while I finished unpacking:



Since we had been on a Disney cruise before (Brian and I, not D), we had gotten a Castaway Club gift. It was the Castaway Club backpack with some Mickey goldfish and a keychain.

Well, while Brian was still gone, Layli arrived with the gifts from The Perfect Gift. So glad those made it! Then, she came right back. I was confused at first, but she said that she had wanted D to have a Castaway Club gift too, so she brought him another backpack! Yay!!



I put the Perfect Gift baskets on the couch and told D we’d open them when Brian came back.



Even George was in on the cruise room festivities!



During all of this time, it was starting to come one of the worst thunderstorms I have EVER seen. My cellphone was going crazy with Weather Emergency alerts. Our portholes faced the port and the place where they bring the luggage in. Well, there are also electric poles there. While D and I were watching, lightning hit one of them and sparks flew everywhere. D said, “Look, Momma! FIREWORKS!” I was like, “yeah. . .that’s it!” No sense in worrying him about that one!



Brian came back after about an hour. He really enjoyed the presentation, and he got a portfolio and 2 DVC slingpacks. Not a bad haul!

Brian and D opened their baskets. Cute! They were happy and surprised with them!





A great way to kick off birthday fun!

It was finally time for the Muster Station drill. Our station was in the Walt Disney Theater, so we headed that way. For some reason, I thought we had to take our lifejackets, so we were carrying them. However, a CM told us we didn’t have to, so we put them back and hurried on.

Here are the guys in the Muster Station:



That took about 15 minutes, and I thought it went really smoothly. After that, it was time for the Sail Away party. I had thought that we would go to that and really have fun. BUT at this point, it was raining and storming like crazy, so they moved the party to the atrium. I knew that the loudness of that would not work for D (and probably wouldn’t be up my alley either), so we decided to have our own Sail Away party in our room!







We watched for a while, and then we sailed away! The Dream Cruise was underway!!

 

[lsenquiz]

Bummer that you did not get the traditional sail away party. A storm at sea my worst phobia . I love the backpack! Awesome that you got three of them. The porthole looks very relaxing. It is much bigger than I would have expected. Great idea with the gift baskets. Looks like the boys are all set for Pirate night.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

What wonderful pictures!!! DF and I got he same chip and dale pic!!! Seeing your pic and reliving mine makes me want to go again asap!!! lol. DF and I are considering a 7 day Fantasy cruise for our Disneymoon if we don't want to shell out the $$$ for Aulani..tough choice either way!!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Bummer that you did not get the traditional sail away party. A storm at sea my worst phobia . I love the backpack! Awesome that you got three of them. The porthole looks very relaxing. It is much bigger than I would have expected. Great idea with the gift baskets. Looks like the boys are all set for Pirate night.

The storm was definitely scary!! D thought it was fun to watch the rain, but didn't grasp the severity of the storm! I loved those backpacks--we are gonna get serious use out of them! I didn't realize how huge the porthole would be. . .they were terrific! Glad we got them instead of the verandah. I would've spent the whole time with a verandah telling D to close the door because he'd want to go repeatedly in and out! The gift baskets turned out well! I am hoping to do something similar for our upcoming WDW trip, but I may pack them myself just from things I can get together here. They were a great surprise for the cruise, though!!

What wonderful pictures!!! DF and I got he same chip and dale pic!!! Seeing your pic and reliving mine makes me want to go again asap!!! lol. DF and I are considering a 7 day Fantasy cruise for our Disneymoon if we don't want to shell out the $$$ for Aulani..tough choice either way!!

Your TR does the same for me--makes me want to go again RIGHT NOW!! How cool that you got the same Chip and Dale pic--wasn't it awesome??
We actually booked a 7-day Fantasy while onboard, but we ended up changing it to a 4-night Dream because we could get the same stateroom we had this time. I would be torn between that and Aulani! We hope to get to Aulani for our 20th anniversary in 2019 (yes, I like to plan WAY in advance!)

Update coming below!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Main Dining, so our dinner was at 5:45. I had looked over the Navigator, and I knew there were several picture opportunities that evening that I wanted to take advantage of!

Ok. . .a little side story here. You know how I said I knew I was buying the CD and prints? Well, I did that on the first night. On the final evening (before we disembarked the next morning), I picked up the prints. 162 of them!! We picked up our CD the next morning. . .I just got it from the CM and we left. When we got home, I put it in the laptop and WAIT. . .those pics aren’t us. They are someone else entirely. So, long story short (and it was a LONG drawn-out drama), I got 2 more CDs from Shutters with our pics on them by the middle of May. They tried to reconstruct everything on them, but it says “April” instead of “March”. I’m ok with that—I was just glad to get them. We only got about 130 of the 162 on the CD—most of the ones we are missing are from the first night. Moral of the Story (and the guy I talked to at the picture company did NOT seem to want to do this): CHECK YOUR CD BEFORE YOU GET OFF THE SHIP. I know it might be a pain to pull a laptop out or to ask to check it, but check it! 

Now. . .back to this. We headed down to Shutters to do the purchasing of the CD. They weren’t open yet, but I didn’t know that. As we walked into that area, who did we spot? Only one of my FAVORITE princesses ever!! TIANA!! So, D and I had to get a pic!




Then, we came around to the Main Atrium, and there was CAPTAIN MICKEY!! I mean, for someone who is a pic-aholic like me, this was AWESOME!!





About that time, Andrew and Victoria were setting up in the atrium. Andrew and Victoria were a singing duo who performed 3 of the 4 nights. D took one look at Victoria and was in LOVE. That was it. We HAD to be where she was, whenever she performed.



So, we drug him away, and it was off to Enchanted Garden for dinner!

 

[disny_luvr]

Great updates! That was a bummer that the Sail Away Party was held inside. I'm sure it would be very loud inside - I don't blame you for doing your own sail away party in your room AND you had that great porthole to look out of as you pulled out of port.

OMG! My worse nightmare come true - the wrong pictures on your CD from Shutters. Thanks for the tip on checking the CD before you leave the ship. I will remember that and do it if we decide to purchase the CD.

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Great updates! That was a bummer that the Sail Away Party was held inside. I'm sure it would be very loud inside - I don't blame you for doing your own sail away party in your room AND you had that great porthole to look out of as you pulled out of port.

OMG! My worse nightmare come true - the wrong pictures on your CD from Shutters. Thanks for the tip on checking the CD before you leave the ship. I will remember that and do it if we decide to purchase the CD.

Yeah, the porthole was wonderful!! Definitely beat all of the noise!

I was SO stressed about that CD!!!! And it took FOREVER to get the problem resolved. . .only after they sent one CD with only 90 something of the pics, and I wrote a complaint email, and then they just sent about 40 more (I would assume the others had been deleted by that time). It took 2 months to get it fixed. Buying the CD, to me, was worth it for the value, but I will definitely check it every time!

Update coming below!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

As I told you before, dinner that night for us was in Enchanted Garden. We got there right at 5:45, and there was no line, but there were quite a few people who had already been seated. They took us to our beautiful table. ..right by the window!

At the time we got to the table, there were glasses there for us, as well as a cup of ice water with a lid and “Welcome, Dalton!” written on it! Too cute! D, on the other hand, was feeling the effects of the very early morning and no nap. He was not having his finest hour, but he was hanging in.







We met our server—his name was Z and he was from Croatia. We also met Alex, our assistant server. I am not sure where he was from. Z was very outgoing and very friendly. Alex was a little more reserved, so I decided my goal was to bring him out of his shell!

This was the menu that I liked the least. I didn’t know what to order. I am allergic to garlic, and a lot of the stuff had garlic in it or it was just something I didn’t think I would enjoy. I looked on AllEars to remember what all we ate, but the menu we had was a little bit different, I think.

I had the Vegetable Spring Roll for an appetizer, and Brian had the Ahi Tuna Tower. D wasn’t much into any of the appetizers (he really wasn’t into the whole meal thing), but he asked Z for some crackers, and boy did Z come through! I guess he brought him a plate of 30-40 crackers!

I also had the romaine wedge (great dressing!) and Brian had the carrot soup. For entrees, I just ordered the plain grilled chicken breast and baked potato (from the light offerings side). Brian had Sea Bass. He said it was very good! He also had a ravioli type thing that looked good! Here are some lovely Enchanted Garden Dinner photos:









I thought I got everything, but I think I missed some stuff.

Toward the end of the meal, our head server came by. His name was Selo (as he said, “like Jello with an S”) and he was terrific! I loved him! He mentioned that he had noticed I ordered the “plain” food. I explained that I hadn’t seen anything on the menu that looked like I would love it. He said he understood, but that if I wanted to branch out, they would either get me stuff from other menus or take the plain food and “kick it up a notch”! Love that customer service!

At the end of dinner, Brian and I both had the Bananas Foster sundae, and D had vanilla ice cream!



I got another pic of the fountain on the way out! I was glad our first meal went well!

I probably should’ve let D call it a night at that point (even though it was early), but I wanted to take some character pics. We went over to have pictures made with DCL Minnie (you’ll just have to take my word for it, since this is one I don’t have the digital file for). D kicked back in the windows as we waited in line!



We also had some family pics made with the white background. I love them, but again,they are not on the CD. Oxsana was the one who took those, and we LOVED her! She was great with D!

Then, D realized Victoria was performing in the atrium, so off we went! I think he caught his second wind, and he was all about the dancing!





We went back to the room after that and Brian changed into comfy shoes. We headed off to the Walt Disney Theater to see the Golden Mickeys!

A CM outside of the theater took this family pic for us!




The show was really, really good, and I was glad we went to see it! D, however, was exhausted. He fell asleep about ¾ of the way through, and woke up just as it was over!





We ran through the shops really quick and came back to the room. Layli had fixed D’s bed so cute! We also had a towel swan and a little pirate box from DVC. . .it had an awesome pin in it! Yay!!



We also started D’s favorite part of the trip. . .ORDERING ROOM SERVICE!! I got coffee, some diet coke and a Mickey bar for Brian, and cookies and milk for D. D thought that was the COOLEST THING EVER. He still talks about it!



After room service, showers, and watching some old Disney shows, we were off to DreamLand!! My plan at that point was to get up early the next morning and get ready to hit Nassau! Would we do it??

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[dspruell]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Love the pictures! Helps feed my Disney addiction until my trip in December!

 

[teekathepony]

Dinner looks really yummy, and the customer service sounds wonderful! I love all the pics, glad D got his second wind and did some dancing!


Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[jwgm2012]

Just got caught up on your trip... absolutely great updates! Sarcasm is my 2nd language and I love how you throw it in occasionally! D is adorable and such a ham!

Can't wait to read the rest!

gina

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Great update!

Thanks!!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Love the pictures! Helps feed my Disney addiction until my trip in December!

That's what I love about trip reports. . .they keep me "there" even when I'm not!! Thanks for reading along!!

Dinner looks really yummy, and the customer service sounds wonderful! I love all the pics, glad D got his second wind and did some dancing!


Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Thanks!! The service was terrific! D was definitely rocking it out!!

Just got caught up on your trip... absolutely great updates! Sarcasm is my 2nd language and I love how you throw it in occasionally! D is adorable and such a ham!

Can't wait to read the rest!

gina

Hi! Welcome aboard!! Thanks for the compliments. . .and yep, sarcasm is definitely a native tongue to me! Glad to have you along!


Ok, y'all, today is my first day at my new job. Any prayers, pixie dust, or positive thoughts would be greatly appreciated!! More trip report updates will probably be on Sunday! As always, thanks for reading!

 

[disny_luvr]

Great update! I think the food looks delicious. My boys are very picky but I'm hopeful DCL will be accommodating. Glad you ordered room service. We plan on doing that too.

I love how D has a "crush" on Victoria. So cute!

Good luck with your new job. What are you going to be doing?

 

[courtneybelle]

Oh my gosh, the dancing pictures are so adorable! I'm melting!

Good luck at the new job! Pixie dust coming your way!

 

[teekathepony]

Ok, y'all, today is my first day at my new job. Any prayers, pixie dust, or positive thoughts would be greatly appreciated!! More trip report updates will probably be on Sunday! As always, thanks for reading!

I'm a little late for your first day, but I do wish you luck at your new job!