Ship of a Million Dreams: 7/22-7/26/07 COMPLETED! Includes post-trip epilogue!!!

[WeatherbySwann]

Ship of a Million Dreams Part One: "She's cheating on Mickey!"

So, there we are, 7 of us packed into our car with all of our luggage, heading out of Orlando, where we had stayed the night before at the Quality Inn. 4 more of us were in the car behind and we were on our way to the trip of a lifetime: 4 nights on the Disney Wonder!!!!

We've been to Walt Disney World more times than I can count, but we have never, ever experienced a Disney Cruise.

We're here!!!

Bright![/CENTER]

Once we actually got to the terminal, what's the first thing we do? Well, I'm trying to figure out stuff about how to check-in, our wheelchaired passenger thinks we already did check in online (we did, but of course you still have to go through a few things at the terminal), so she goes off in her wheelchair and disappears out of sight. Some run off to the bathroom, but I have no idea where they went until they came back, and everyone else is running towards the TVs to watch Donald cartoons, and . . . boy, it's gonna be one heck of a trip. At that moment, I remembered something from my last WDW trip in January that gets me through these hectic family vacations - you have to have D.A. (no, Harry Potter fans, it's not Dumbledore's Army!). It's a Disney Attitude. You just have to chill out, relax, and act like the Disney CMs do, and have a Disney attitude. After all, you're cruising with the Mouse! Be happy!

Once everyone's back together and my D.A. is on, we have a serious talk about sticking together and telling someone else where you're off to . . . I was not going to put up with choas the entire vacation.

So, now everyone understands their guidelines, half of us check ourselves in, the other half go to watch TV. I noticed in the terminal they had steel drum version of Disney classics, like Heigh-Ho. It was really nice, but I couldn't find the CD anywhere on the ship Oh, well.

So, we sit . . . watch Donald cartoons . . . the time's now 10:30am . . . and soon Donald comes out! He was fun, played with our Stitch gloves, and then had a fit at me for not having any Donald pins.

About 30 minutes later Minnie came out . . . Minnie and Donald gave each other a friendly kiss ("She's cheating on Mickey!" a child outbursts ), and Donald heads backstage. Of course, we met her! We were afraid that our youngest traveler, age 3, would be afraid of the characters . . . she wouldn't meet Donald a few minutes earlier and on her last trip to WDW she was mortified by all the "furry" friends, and would only meet the face characters. So, when she refused to hug Donald, we figured we'd have to stay clear of Mickey & the gang while she was with us. But to our delightful surprise, when every one went up to see Minnie, she ran right up there, too, and hugged Minnie so tight, you'd never believe that 30 seconds ago she was afraid of her!

About 30 minutes after we met Minnie, an announcement was made: "All travelers in Group 2 please report to the ship" I check our ticket - THAT'S US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's finally time! Here we go . . .

 

[disneydance]

Great start to your TR cant wait to read more

 

[sandybobandy]

I feel like I'm there with you! Excited for more!!!

 

[pop5]

We were on this cruise too. Loved it! We had #2 boarding pass too!! I probaly saw you in the terminal and didnt know it.

 

[WeatherbySwann]

We were on this cruise too. Loved it! We had #2 boarding pass too!! I probaly saw you in the terminal and didnt know it.

That's too funny! I was reading Oklomomof4boys' TR and they were on our cruise, as well! That's so neat! I'll post more tomorrow morning!

 

[WeatherbySwann]

Group # 2 has been called - that's us! - we enter the Mouse-ear shaped portal and walk down the long hallway, "Welcome Aboard" signs greeting us every few feet. We're finally here! I can't believe it! Walking across the gangway, I realize how massive and collassal this vessel really is . . . it's ginormous!


We were led by other CMs to lunch at Parrot Cay. It very much reminded me of the 'Ohana restaurant at WDW's Polynesian Resort. The architecture was sorta the same (it even smelled the same!). All it was missing was pineapple bread and Lilo & Stitch

So, we got our food . . . it was excellent! The bread was very good. I forgot the name of it, and I really wish I would have written it down. A few minutes after going through the buffet line, we were delightfully surprised to see Daisy Duck enter the restaurant! We thought character dining was only on the Magic, but I suppose not! Daisy was dressed in tropical clothes, which blended in well w/the restaurant. Turns out that characters visit here frequently, as we saw them almost every morning here, but none of their appearances were ever posted on the Navigator.

We finished up our food, and RIGHT as I put the video camera away, it's time for Daisy to leave the restaurant and we get to escort her out!!! How cool is that! I missed most of it on tape, but I got a little bit recorded, though. Oh well.

We decided to check out our room next. We had 6532, 6536, and 6538 spread out among our party. I slept in 6538. It had a queen or king bed (I forget which ), as well as a couch that folded out to a single bed, and a single bed that came out of the ceiling (kind of like Stitch's bed in his TV show ), as well as a nice balcony . . . later we would have a much better view instead of the terminal . We saw the security dog walking away from the luggage - that's always a good sign! All bags are ready to go with no incidents!! Hooray! I probably watched the TV instruction on the safety drill 3 or 4 times before deciding that I knew everything that needed to be accomplished during the drill . . . I just wanted to make 100% positive we knew what we were doing, this was our first cruise, after all.

On our bed was the Personal Navigator for the rest of that day. It became a habit that whenever I received the Navigator first thing, I would highlight all the stuff we wanted to do (bring a highlighter and pack it in your carry-on bag!). We decided we would go on the ship tour @ 2:30 to check out everything, then there's the drill, the Sail-Away Party, dinner @ Triton's at 5:30, and then we decided instead of seeing the "show" that night, we would go to Pin Trading, and then Mickey Mania @ 9:45. Or at least, that what we thought we would end up doing . . . most of it we did accomplish, with a few detours, but we did have one little excursion we didn't plan on . . . but I'm getting ahead of myself.

We decided to chill out at the pool for a while, so we headed up to Deck 9 Goofy Pool for a while. Saw Daisy again on our way up, she was strolling Deck 9 . . . I would think they would keep characters away from the pools, since the kids might get them wet, but oh well, I guess not. Went up to deck 10 to observe everything, including quiet cove.

What's the time? Ooh! 2:20! We better head down to deck 4 to catch the tour! We decided only myself and one other member of our party would go, since we didn't need 9 other people tagging along and asking when it would be over.

On the Navigator it said "Walking Ship Tour - Meet at Preludes", starting @ 2:30pm. OK . . . it was 2:28 . . . we were outside a place that said "Preludes", right outside the WD Theatre. I checked the ship map again to see if we were at the right place . . . we were . . . I checked the Navigator again. Sure enough, we were where we were supposed to be . . . but we were the only ones there. It's now 2:35 . . . still no one's here . . . I go check out on deck to see if they've already started ahead of us and sure enough, I see a large group of people huddled a bit down the deck. That must be the tour!

Well, it just so happens that the member of our party that was seeing the tour with me rides in a wheelchair and wheeling her out onto the deck was quite a sight in itself . . . I had to push w/all my might up the small carpeted ramp while she thrusts her arms out, trying to open the door . . . LOL I bet anyone passing by would have thought we were filming a sitcom So, we finally make it out on the deck, and the group isn't too far ahead of us. We catch up to them, and they all move aside, making a walkway for us. I think they're being kind to let the wheelchaired guest to the front of the group so she can hear the tourguide . . . but then when we got to the front and their little path for us was still there, I notice something's wrong . . . I look around and they're all wearing little red badges that say "Earning My Ears" - LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL! This isn't a tour group, it's a CM training!!!!! I wheeled her out of there so fast! . . .

So, we decide that since we can't find the tour group, we'll have our own little tour by ourselves . . . which is quite a task, wheeling around someone in a wheelchair around a ginormous cruise ship . . . so, we tour the ship . . . fancy . . . detailed . . . pretty . . . and then we head back to our room to get life jackets and prepare for the emergency drill. I must admit I was a bit nervous about the drill and the possibility of a real emergency happening during our stay. However, the drill wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and passed quickly. After the drill, another member of our party and I sent our lifejackets up w/the rest of the family, while we rushed up to Deck 10 to secure a table for the Sail-Away Party! We figured that loads of people would already be up there getting tables, but we're the only ones here! We get our pick of any table we want! We were on the right side of the stage/dance floor, "Sail Away Party!" shown across the huge TV, and nobody here but us . . . quite a nice photo op, but the rest of the family had the camera, oh well maybe next time.

We got ourselves a nice table, a few other people arrived, and all was peaceful for about 10 minutes. WAEAEAAEAEAEAEAEW! A large trumpet blast, followed by the lyrics to "What Time is It" from HSM2 start playing on the super-loud speakers and scared me so bad I about fell out of my chair! And that song starts out so abruptly, one minute it's totally silence and then BAM! Anyway, as the song rolled on, more guests arrived, and in a few minutes all the tables were filled, the dance floor was packed, and it was Sail-Away time!!!! Ian and the entertainment staff (among them Pikey, Shaika, and Keyon) began leading the crowd in dance.

Christiaan the cruise director appears and asks the crowd "We need a little magic here, though. Where do we get our magic? That's right! From the world famous Disney Characters! Please welcome Chip, Dale, Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy!!!!"

"Ahoy, mates!" Chip shouts.
Minnie giggles hysterically.
"Oh, boy! This is gonna be swell!" exclaims Mickey.

While Minnie led the crowd in a retro rendition of the MMC March I realized that I was actually here, on my first ever Disney Cruise. This was it! I was here! I was actually looking at Mickey Mouse! The moment I've been looking forward to for 10 months has arrived!

The Sail-Away Party was a nice way to kick-off the cruise.

What's the time? 5:00. Dinner's in 30 minutes! We better get ready!!!!

 

[ulstergirl]

Great start to your TR. I can't wait to read more. We are going on the Aug
26th cruise, so reading this TR is helping to get us EVEN MORE, in the "Disney" mood. Can't wait to read reat of your report. Thanks!

 

[disneydance]

Great Start cant wait to read more

 

[sandybobandy]

Oooh what's for dinner?! lol

 

[WeatherbySwann]

Aaaah! We have 30 minutes to get 11 people ready for dinner!!! Plus it'll take us 3x slower to get there w/a wheelchair! We got ta' move it!!! We hurried to our room, got dressed in casual (remember no shorts allowed . . . but they won't kick you out if you wear them).


We had the earlier seating, and there seemed to be pros and cons for both seatings. If you had the earlier seating and wanted to see the shows every nights (like we did), you missed out on some awesome stuff that happened in Studio Sea . . . some fun stuff in there happened every night at 7:30, and usually didn't end until around 8:15, meaning you wouldn't get a good spot for the show. If you have the earlier seating you also miss some characters in the atrium, but they are common ones (Mickey & pals) that you can see all over the ship.

It seemed that if you had the later seating, you could attend more activities such as characters, Studio Sea stuff, etc before dinner but you'd be really hungry . . . I'd say just get a slice of pizza or something around 5:30 or 6 and you should be fine.

Anyway, we had 5:30 seating for Triton's, which was themed around The Little Mermaid. I wasn't expecting much from this restaurant, but as we arrived I was pleasantly surprised. The walls changed from a pinkish shade to a deep blue color as we headed "deeper into the ocean", which was great since this was the first night of the cruise and we started on land. The Little Mermaid mural was beautiful, but we didn't really get to admire it that much, as we were close to the front of the restaurant. The kids menus here had characters from Beauty and the Beast on them . . . I guess that's because on the Magic, Triton's is Lumiere's.

About halfway through our dinner Daisy walks through the restaurant and everyone cheers. Turns out she was just heading to the back door on her way out from a character greeting in the Atrium.

Our servers were Pong and Ericson from the Philippines. They are awesome! Tonight Pong made some Minnie bows out of our napkins. When it came time for dessert, someone said "I'll have nothing." When Pong brought out everyone's desserts, he put a covered platter in front of the person that ordered nothing. Was this some mistake? Nope. The platter is opened and . . .

That's one of the things that set Disney apart from the rest

The time? 7:00. (This turned out to be the earliest we got out of dinner the whole trip). Our party pretty much just dispersed in all different directions and did their own thing. I went to go meet Captain Jack Sparrow! He was appearing in front of a pirate backdrop outside the Walt Disney Theatre. We got there just as everyone was pouring out of the Michael Harrison show, so the line was sort of long. Jack (sorry, Captain Jack) was great! He was really in character! He looked at my pins and said "My! Look at all your treasure!" He was awesome.

The time? 7:35. We'd decide to go check out the Pin Trading in the Atrium. Some characters were also down in the atrium, but we passed. Belle had a long line, but Peter Pan and Wendy were standing all alone, with no line at all. I should have gone to meet them! I figured that most character lines were sparse like theirs the whole time, but I was wrong. That was one of the only times I ever saw no line for a character. Anyway, we had high hopes for the pin trading event. We figured it would be like those Mickey's Pin Trading Nights @ All Star Sports, and we were dissapointed to find it was only a small stand w/ pins for sale on it, and one CM w/ a lanyard on to trade. It was kind of in an odd location, as well. It was sort of jammed between the line to meet Belle, and the line for Guest Services, so there were people everywhere, and kind of hard to do anything.

Next we walked around the ship and explored.

Later, around 9:00, as we're wandering deck 5, we find Snow White just standing there, overlooking the Atrium from the balcony, right outside Oceaneer's Club with no one around. What timing! So of course we meet her.

We all meet up again and check the navigator and see what everyone wants to do next. Half say they want rest up and then see the 10:30 showing of At World's End, but it's over at 1:18 and that's too late for me! Myself and the other half of the family decide to go see characters in the atrium, then go to Mickey Mania @ 9:45 in Studio Sea.

The way they set up the late night character greetings are great. Pretty much all character appearances after 6:00 are set up so that you wait in one line for several characters. Tonight they had Mickey, Minnie, and Donald all out. Although we had already seen both Minnie and Donald, I would wait in the whole line for Mickey alone anyway! When we get to Mickey, my 3-year-old relative shows Mickey my Pal Mickey toy that I had let her carry, and presses Pal Mickey so he talks, and she holds Pal Mickey up to real Mickey's ear so he can hear himself. She says "Listen, it's you! Do you hear?" I could tell Mickey didn't exactly understand but it was cute anyway.

Then we head up one level to Mickey Mania (the game show that's insania!) in Studio Sea, which turned out to be one of my favorite places on the ship. It was set up neat and I especially liked the seats - comfy director's chairs . Mickey Mania was nice, lots of fun. Of course, everyone's a winner at Disney, and all the contestants got DCL keychains. We exit Studio Sea and we (literally) run into Chip and Dale! Sorry, guys! Didn't see you coming! I was a little upset that we didn't meet the chipmunks (they're one of my favorites), but I figured I'd see them again later, which I did. We check on the navigator to see what's there to do now. We could stick around @ Studio Sea for Karaoke or we can wait and see Pirates. We decide to check back at the room first, where EVERYONE is sound asleep (so much for them seeing Pirates!). Everyone else gets into bed and I have a rumbly in my tumbly (as Pooh would say it), so I go up to deck 9 to grab pizza, ice cream, and coke. The pizza was the exact same as the kind they deliver to your room @ Pop Century, which I really like. I sit out on the balcony of our room and look over the ocean as I eat (the ship was really booking it, going pretty fast). I chill out for a while and start Harry Potter, with not much luck - the ocean can be distracting

I decide it's time to hit the hay, tomorrow's Nassau Day!

 

[maslex]

Loving reading this report. Makes me that much more excited to go on our own Disney cruise!!! Can't wait to read the rest.

 

[stenogoddess]

Great TR. I can't wait until it's my turn.

 

[WeatherbySwann]

Thanks, guys - will post more either tonight or tomorrow morning . . . I'm on a roll w/Harry Potter and can't wait to get finished!
200 pages left! Off to read!

 

[CapnJackGroupie]

 

[Mr.Monk]

Exellent trip report!

Hope you're enjoying Harry Potter! I read it twice and am having HP withdrawl. May need to start over from Book 1 and read slowly.

 

[WeatherbySwann]

Exellent trip report!

Hope you're enjoying Harry Potter! I read it twice and am having HP withdrawl. May need to start over from Book 1 and read slowly.

You already read it twice?!
I JUST FINISHED and . . . well, I don't want to spoil it for anyone on this thread who hasn't finsished, but it was a proper ending to the series, to say the least. I thought the first half was kinda slow, but the 2nd half definitely made up for it. Before I read book 7, I rented all the movies and then re-read books 5 & 6 . . . but the movies do leave out some important info, so I might just have to go back to book 1, as well.

Now I need some time away from HP, which is where I've had my head stuck the past 48 hours . . . will post more TR tomorrow! I promise!
While you're waitin', check out the Disney Trivia game I started over on the theme parks thread

 

[disneydance]

Great job your trip report is very enjoyable and I cant wait for more

 

[ILUVEVERYTHINGDISNEY]

You already read it twice?!
I JUST FINISHED and . . . well, I don't want to spoil it for anyone on this thread who hasn't finsished, but it was a proper ending to the series, to say the least. I thought the first half was kinda slow, but the 2nd half definitely made up for it. Before I read book 7, I rented all the movies and then re-read books 5 & 6 . . . but the movies do leave out some important info, so I might just have to go back to book 1, as well.

Now I need some time away from HP, which is where I've had my head stuck the past 48 hours . . . will post more TR tomorrow! I promise!
While you're waitin', check out the Disney Trivia game I started over on the theme parks thread

I haven't had time yet to read HP and I am saddened by it. Your trip report is great. Keep it coming.

 

[Mr.Monk]

WeatherbySwann;20063971]You already read it twice?!

Yes, I've a little OCD problem.

will post more TR tomorrow! I promise!

We're waiting!

 

[caitlinsdad]

Enjoying your trip report

Thanks