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

[StitchIsOurHero]

That seems really odd that Mousekeeping would mess up like that. It isn't something you'd expect at any hotel, let alone club level at the WL. We had excellent mousekeeping when we were there in February.

I thought it was really odd too! I was surprised at how the whole thing went down!

Now, MY Disney kid will be spoiled!
I don't even wanna think about that yet!

Just read your new UD! That Mouskeeping issue really stinks. Sometimes Disney just isn't on their game I guess! I once had MK literally pound on our door at 2am because they were looking for lost luggage. Not only were we scared/confused...but 2am, really??? And they were really rude about it too.

That would have freaked me out too!! And then for them to be rude? I definitely would've been stressed!!

Ok, y'all, we've made it to CRUISE DAY!! Update coming below!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Sunday, March 24th!! Cruise Day had arrived!

A little disclaimer before I start this day. . .

In case you didn’t read our PTR, here’s how I intended for today to go. I had snagged a 7:30 ADR at Chef Mickey’s. Brian didn’t want to do it since he thought it would push us in trying to get to the port. I didn’t think it would. Our Port Arrival Time was at 11-11:30 am. I knew we wanted to get there early, to avoid chaos and confusion, and I also knew we could get this breakfast done and head out just fine. I had also promised D I would let him ride the monorail circuit one time after breakfast. The plan was to do all of that and then hit the road. We planned to arrive at the Port around 10:30-10:45, calmly check in all together, and be ready to explore the Port terminal and get on the Dream. I wanted to take pics and video of us boarding the Dream and I wanted to get pictures of the WHOLE thing. Now. . .file that bit of info away in your head. Consider it foreshadowing or forewarning or just a good upcoming story. . .

BACK TO OUR REGULAR PROGRAMMING:

Morning dawned bright and EARLY. I think I got up at 4:30 am. I didn’t sleep much because I kept planning how to consolidate and pack more stuff before we got on the cruise. I got ready, packed the toiletries up, and Brian and I started loading. By that time it was about 6 am. We turned on the lights then to start really packing. D was opposed to this idea and wanted to stay in the bed!



Brian called Bell Services, got a cart, and went down to load the car. D and I decided to say goodbye to WL while he was doing that.





I was absolutely beside myself with excitement at this point!! This was the culmination of the big birthday bash that I had planned for over 400 days! Let’s get this day going!!

Car loaded, goodbyes said, it was off to the Contemporary. We drove there, and we arrived about 7:15. We checked in, and our buzzer went off quickly.



But first, a picture:



We were seated this time on the very first table as you enter the room where the buffet is. D could see from his seat into the “abstract” room. Our server was Lee, and she was terrific! We told her we were headed to the Dream right after that meal, and she talked all about it! She was great!

We had just barely sat down before the characters were upon us!!















Somehow in there, we grabbed some food, and D decided to watch the characters in the other room.



Brian and D were really into the napkin waving and celebrating too!



And D got yet another birthday cupcake!





We were done with breakfast, and Pluto hadn’t come yet. We debated going ahead and leaving, but it was still really early, so we decided to wait!

Pluto was hilarious with D, and we were so glad we waited!





By 8:30-8:40, we had settled our bill, said goodbye to Chef Mickey’s, and were well on schedule to do my promised treat to D. . .a ride around the monorail!



As we were on the monorail, I said to Brian, “I wish we had kept our mugs from the Dining Plan. (I had left them in the WL room). We could’ve carried them to the pool.” Brian said, “Well, they didn’t clean our room AT ALL yesterday. . .they probably haven’t cleaned it yet. Let’s run back and get them.” I wasn’t gonna argue with that plan!

So, when we arrived back at the Contemporary, we all were filled with excitement! We walked back to the car and headed to Wilderness Lodge to grab our cups!

 

[lsenquiz]

Love the Chef Mickey pictures. We did alot of character meals this past trip and Chef Mickeys was one of our favorites.

 

[mirage0306]

Cruise day! Woohoo!!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Love the Chef Mickey pictures. We did alot of character meals this past trip and Chef Mickeys was one of our favorites.

Love Chef Mickey's! It's just so fun!!

Cruise day! Woohoo!!

Yep, I was beside myself with excitement!!!

Update coming below!!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

After leaving the Contemporary, we were off to Wilderness Lodge. When we got there, Brian decided to just pull up in the front and run in to grab our mugs. D and I stayed in the car. I called my mom to check in and also did some work stuff. D talked to Mom and then he began to get upset because Brian had been gone so long. He was probably gone 30 or 45 minutes. Finally, he came back to the car with, of course, a story.

He had gone to the room to grab our mugs. The room key still worked and let him in, but the room had already been cleaned and everything was gone. He went up to the CL Desk and asked about it. The nice CM there was named Daisy. She told him that she was sorry but it was already done and there wasn’t anything she could do. She asked why we needed them. Brian told her we had been gone about an hour and a half and that we had decided we would grab them before we left for the cruise. He made the comment that we figured the room would not have been cleaned yet since it was never cleaned the day before. He didn’t say it meanly, he was just honestly stating what we had talked about. She was shocked that the room had never been cleaned or turndown service hadn’t been done. She asked Brian to give her 5 minutes. Well, about 15 minutes later, she returned with 3 brand new mugs, with no charge. Gotta love that Disney Customer Service!

Brian ran down to Roaring Forks, filled them up, and finally came to the car. Once D saw him, he calmed down, and we were off! Look out, Dream, here we come!!

However. . .Brian handed me my mug, and I said, “Oh good, I need to take my medicine!” I grabbed my medicine container out and got out my allergy medicine and vitamins. I knew that my allergy medicine and my ahem female daily/monthly medicine (for lack of a better description) were the same color but differently shaped, so I needed to put that one back in the container until that evening. Only. . .it wasn’t there. No problem. Maybe I put two in the next day. I opened the next day. Wait. No female meds there either. I started to panic a little. I hadn’t brought the containers. . .just my weekly pill container. I jerked everything open, and there were NO female pills. By this time it was 9:35-9:40. Carefully crafted plan falling apart PLUS I have no REALLY necessary medicine!!

I called the closest Walgreens and talked to the pharmacy tech. He told me that they could call my pharmacy and get it transferred and filled. . .GREAT! LET’S DO THAT!. . .but it would take 3 hours. WHOA. NOPE. So I told him we were supposed to be at the cruise in an hour and a half. He said, “Well, I can transfer you to the pharmacist and you can tell him your story.” He did, and I KNOW I sounded like crazed redneck vacationer, but I begged and begged. We finally found that Walgreens location, and that pharmacist, bless him, called my pharmacy (which didn’t open til 10:05) and filled my prescription. Medicine in hand, we were finally on the road to the Port by probably 10:30.

I was so glad to have the medicine and have that all fixed, but I was in a complete panic. It was just one of those things where you can’t relax because you’re so stressed over something. . .even though it’s already done!

We finally got to the Port at about 11:15-11:20. .. let’s not talk about how fast Brian drove. We got everything out and turned in to a porter, and then D & I headed out with our carryon stuff (which for some reason I had 3 or 4 bags AND a huge photo mat) and Brian went to park the car. NOW, Look out Cruise, here we come!

Ok. . .I know that was a no picture update, but I promise from here on out, there will be lots of pics!! Next up: will we get on the ship? Will we find each other? Will I relax?

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

There we were at the Port. We had unloaded and D and I were off to check in and then figure out what to do. Well, by that time, the lines were SO long that we had to go upstairs on the outside to check in. We waited in a lonnnnnng line and got through the metal detector. Once we were in the Port Terminal it was SO crowded. I don’t do well in big crowds like that. I got D up to the counter and they went over all of our documents and took our pictures. We got to go through the Castaway Club line, so we walked right up—no line!!

After everything was checked, the really sweet lady said, “Ooh! They’ve already called your boarding number and started checking in!” That was enough to make me in the “ohmygoodnesswe’vegottagogogogogogogo” mode! Except. . .I didn’t have Brian!

D and I finished in line and started into the terminal. I couldn’t dig out my cell phone to call him (after all, who knew which one of the 4 bags?!?! it was in!!!!).

Just as we got back to the end of the terminal, Brian came in. The DVC booth was right there, and they gave us lanyards and pins. It was nice, but I was ready to GO! D, however, was ready to meet Minnie. I almost relented, but the line was wrapped 3 times, so we skipped it!

I told Brian they had already called her number, and we took off for the Mickey ears. No Port pics, no relaxing soak-it-all-in moment. By this point, I had D, 4 bags, a photo mat, AND 2 Navigators (because D had to have his own), and Brian had 3 bags (WHAT were we thinking with all of those carryons?? Never again!)

We made it through the Mickey ears in to the walk-on part, and Brian had to have his ID pic made (since I had checked us in without him, he had his made in the line. . .took like 5 seconds). We got him back with us, got in line, and were up to have our pictures made. I was super-stressed because I felt like it was all my fault that we were so late. Brian was super-stressed because I was stressed and he didn’t think there was any reason to be. D was just trying to figure out what was up.

Up to the picture place we went!







A note here: I knew I was going to buy the Shutters CD/prints package ($325 on our 4-night cruise) so I was up for any and every picture opportunity.

Then, we reached the magic door to walk into the Dream!! We gave him our name and they announced us as we entered the Dream! It was SO great! Now did I get pics or video—that’d be a no. But it was still wonderful!!

I know this sounds crazy, but just as we walked on to the ship and I KNEW we were all there together and safe, it was like the weight of the world came off of my shoulders! VACATION’S HERE!! Let’s PARTY!!

 

[wiigirl]

Awesome pics!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Awesome pics!

Thank you!!!

 

[DisneyElite4]

I just wanted you to know I am really enjoying reading your report! You take great pictures! Also, your little boy is absolutely adorable!

 

[mirage0306]

You're on the ship! Yeah!!

I know what you mean about being stressed and then your dh being stressed just because you are happens all the time!!

can't wait to read about the cruise!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

I just wanted you to know I am really enjoying reading your report! You take great pictures! Also, your little boy is absolutely adorable!

Awww, thanks!!! And thanks for reading along!!

You're on the ship! Yeah!!

I know what you mean about being stressed and then your dh being stressed just because you are happens all the time!!

can't wait to read about the cruise!

I am so glad someone else has that happen in their house!! Cruise update coming below!!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

When we had talked about what we wanted to do on arrival day, the list wasn’t very long. We just wanted to eat lunch and then explore the Dream. I also wanted to check on our Dining Assignment—since I had requested that we have a table just the 3 of us. Lest you think I am awful or anti-social, here was my reasoning. I didn’t know how D would react to being on the cruise. I also know that we don’t spend a whole, whole lot of time just the three of us, and I wanted this vacation to be about that.

All that being said, we looked for which Main Dining Room had lunch. We knew we could go to Cabanas, but we had already decided that we would rather sit down in a quieter environment. We found out it was Enchanted Garden, so we headed down there. It was so nice to watch people being introduced into the atrium with the guy playing Disney music on the piano while it happened. SOOOOO nice!

Enchanted Garden still had about 15 minutes to go before it opened. We sat all of our stuff down, cleaned our hands with the wipes they gave us, and then D and I went to take pics.

People being introduced onto the ship:



The beautiful chandelier in the atrium:



By that time, we just had about 5 minutes to wait. I took D’s pic in front of the closed restaurant before we went in:





I forgot to mention—I had gotten our dining rotation on our room key. We had ERAA, so we knew we started dinners that night in Enchanted Garden. I was excited to get to see the restaurant at lunch!

Another aside—while we waited, there were these 3 people waiting too. They were very official and very busy. I couldn’t figure out their deal until I saw their bags. They were from Disney Junior Canada. That will come back up later!

Right at 12:00, Enchanted Garden opened. Well, D had been eyeing the door, so he was ready to go in! The three of us walked in, and all of the servers were lined up on either side so you walked through them (like a tunnel). As D walked in, the head guy said, “First guests!! Here we GOOOOOOO!” and everyone applauded as we walked in. It was so neat and D thought it was TERRIFIC!!

As we went in, I checked on our table for dinner. We got table 117 which was a 4-top table, so it was going to be just the three of us at each dinner! Yay! Check that worry off the list!

Zach was our helper/server at lunch. He took us to our table. . .right by the window. . .and encouraged us to go up to the buffet. He asked if D liked chicken nuggets, and he went to get him some! The level of service already was amazing!

D was just amazed by being able to look out the window at the Carnival ship that was also docked there!



Here are some lunch pics:





I had put a chocolate chip cookie on my plate for D. When we finished, he wanted another one. I went up to get it and the line, by that point, was huge. I was going to go through it again, but a nice CM named Heidi was working the end where you get your plates. She said, “Did you come back for something?” I said, “D decided he needed another cookie!” She said, “just wait here. . .I’ll get it! No need to get in line just for that!” And she came right back with a plate full of cookies for D!

During lunch, one of the beverage guys came around about the beer package. I am not a beer girl, but Brian likes to have beer on vacation. So, we ordered the 6 package, and they said they would put them in our room that evening.

I can’t say enough how nice this was and how great it was to kick off our vacation this way!

We headed out to go explore some more and get ready to find our room. I had to take a pic of D with the fountain on our way out. . .

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I'm so excited to hear about the cruise portion of the trip now. I'm thinking about June 2015 for our family so I'm soaking up anything and everything cruise related right now. Looks like once you got on the ship everything is falling into place.

 

[disny_luvr]

I just found your trip report, read the whole thing and am loving it. Your son is adorable. Where do you get all those matching shirts? I love them.

We are taking a Disney cruise in November so I am so excited to read about the cruise portion. DH and I took one cruise before, out of NYC on DCL, but it was only for the two-night cruise to no-where so I still consider us rookies. Our sons have never cruised before but I can't imagine them not liking it. Funny you mentioned that you requested a table for just your family. I am really on the fence about this. When we cruised last summer, just DH and I, we were seated with two other couples and had a blast. I was hesitant on that trip but was so glad we decided to be open to the option of being sat with others. When we first booked our upcoming cruise I thought we'd let the powers that be decide if we have our own table or have a table with others, but I recently read a thread on the cruise board about some awkward table pairings and now I'm leaning towards requesting our own table. It is a 7-night cruise so it could be one long week if we don't gel with our table mates. On the other hand, our table mates could be awesome, my sons could find some friends on the ship and all would be well in the world. I still have a few months to decide so we'll see...

I can't wait for the next update!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

I'm so excited to hear about the cruise portion of the trip now. I'm thinking about June 2015 for our family so I'm soaking up anything and everything cruise related right now. Looks like once you got on the ship everything is falling into place.

Yay!! We did fall in love with our Dream Cruise! I definitely think you would enjoy a June cruise. . .I want to go in June next time!

I just found your trip report, read the whole thing and am loving it. Your son is adorable. Where do you get all those matching shirts? I love them.

We are taking a Disney cruise in November so I am so excited to read about the cruise portion. DH and I took one cruise before, out of NYC on DCL, but it was only for the two-night cruise to no-where so I still consider us rookies. Our sons have never cruised before but I can't imagine them not liking it. Funny you mentioned that you requested a table for just your family. I am really on the fence about this. When we cruised last summer, just DH and I, we were seated with two other couples and had a blast. I was hesitant on that trip but was so glad we decided to be open to the option of being sat with others. When we first booked our upcoming cruise I thought we'd let the powers that be decide if we have our own table or have a table with others, but I recently read a thread on the cruise board about some awkward table pairings and now I'm leaning towards requesting our own table. It is a 7-night cruise so it could be one long week if we don't gel with our table mates. On the other hand, our table mates could be awesome, my sons could find some friends on the ship and all would be well in the world. I still have a few months to decide so we'll see...

I can't wait for the next update!

Aww thank you, and thanks for reading along!! Most of our matching shirts I either bought together when we were somewhere (like the Salty Dog ones) or a friend of mine makes/designs tees, so he has made us several as "surprises"! I love them! I figure I just have a couple of more years until D refuses to match, so I am soaking it up!

Ooh, a November cruise? That will be SO fun!! I will say this about the table just for us. ..I was glad I did it. It gave us some time to have just us, but we also talked a lot to the tables next to us or close by. So, it was sort of like having tablemates, but not like you had to constantly talk to each other. I bet either way you decide will work out well, though!!

Next cruise update coming below!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

After our wonderful lunch, we loaded everything back up and headed out. We walked through a lot of the ship, just checking out where everything was. We knew our room would be ready in about 30 minutes, and we couldn’t wait to see it!


D in one of the cool chairs, while we explored!

As we came back up to the Main Atrium, we looked up a floor, and there was Belle, waving at people as they entered. Well, I was definitely going to meet her! As we started up the stairs, we also saw PLUTO! There was NO ONE there, so we had a great time meeting both of them and clowning around. Pluto rolled on the floor with D for a good 5 – 10 minutes!









We also went by Guest Services and dropped off the mat and Sharpies. They were SO nice! They asked if we wanted ALL of the characters to sign it or just the non-princess ones. We opted for ALL!

We found Shutters and also where the stores were (definitely going to visit those later!!), and then we headed back to our room area. We waited in one of the little portholes in the main area before the hallway to our room. D kept himself busy by taking pics and video with my phone! I have to admit, I kept myself busy by taking pics, too!



Every few minutes or so, we would walk up to the hallway, just to see if it was ready (not that we were excited or anything!!). Just a few minutes before the room was supposed to be ready, D needed a bathroom break. I took him to the bathroom, and just as we came back out, we discovered that Brian had found friends! Chip and Dale were right there, hanging out with Brian! D couldn’t wait to go meet them!





It was just us and them for at least 10 minutes. While we were with them, we also met their handler, Harper. He was a really nice guy, and he was very good with D. He asked D what his name was, and when they got ready to leave, he said, “I’ll remember you! See you around the ship!”

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!

 

[shan23877]

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

What an awesome picture of D and Pluto!

 

[lsenquiz]

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 .