The Magic is better than the Dream....I'll be the judge of that!!
- Thread starter tweis
- Start date
tweis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
Now I want a Dole Whip Float!!!! Yummy!Im sorry you didnt enjoy your BOG meal more. I think someday when we eventually get back we may just go for dessert!
This was my first experience with dole whip and I loved it!
Maybe if I hadn't looked forward to BOG so much then it wouldn't have been as much of a disappointment. But seriously, we were paying out of pocket and I would gladly have spent the cash on another yummy fish sandwich from Cookes of Dublin. As it were, it felt like throwing $$ in the trash.
If you get back before we do, let me know how dessert is.
MouseMomx2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2006
I'm sorry you had a bad experience at BOG. Next time you go to WDW give it another try for lunch, but this time order the braised pork. It is amazing. Even my DD, who says she hates pork, loved this meal. Not only is it an amazing counter-service meal, it is one of the best meals I have ever had at WDW, period.
I'm really enjoying your trip report and looking forward to the next installment.
I'm really enjoying your trip report and looking forward to the next installment.
tweis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
Thanks for joining in and
I will keep the braised pork in mind but I don't know that BOG will get a second chance from us. It was honestly that bad with the exception of the roast beef. Most of my sandwich got thrown in the trash. Cold bechamel sauce is not a good thing.
I was just glad that we were paying lunch prices and not dinner. By the time we visit WDW again, maybe we will be over our bad experience.
tweis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
I am going to try to wrap up the WDW portion of the trip today. I have a lot of pictures of the Magic and Palo in particular and it will take some time to get all the material posted here. We leave for Las Vegas in a little over 2 weeks and I really want to get as much posted as possible before then. 
EPCOT
After our dining disappointment with BOG, we headed to the monorail so that we could get to Epcot. The flower and garden festival was really appealing to me and one of the reasons for wanting to visit Epcot. My plans were to visit Epcot in the afternoon and probably have dinner in the World Showcase (I had an ADR at San Angel but DH had me cancel it because he thought we would want QS.
) and then head back to MK at some point for the fireworks. Ambitious I know. Needless to say, things didn't go that way.
Our first stop was Spaceship Earth. We all really enjoyed this nice and relaxing ride. We had no FP+ for anything at Epcot because we were there a day before the new options went into effect. I relied heavily on the MDE app for wait times. DS wanted to do Captain EO since it had Michael Jackson in it so we did. This was rather boring to me and once we left DS said that it was not at all what he was expecting. Oh well. From Captain EO, I want to say that we went to Club Cool. The boys were very excited to try the different flavors of Coke. Well, they were until they tried the Beverly! Eeeeewwwww!!! Its tough to get that taste out of your mouth. I really wish I had pictures to show the look on their faces when they tried it.
I really enjoyed being able to see all the beautiful topiaries.
According to the app, Mission Space had a very short wait time so we took advantage and headed on over. We chose the milder version of this ride and the boys really enjoyed it! They wanted to do it again but unfortunately the wait had grown while we were on the ride.
I think from Mission Space we grabbed some Mickey Bars before heading to Innoventions. The boys were fascinated with some of the exhibits and the CM talked us into the "video game". This was not at all what they were expecting but they had fun with it. We left Innoventions and I checked my app. Soarin and Test Track still had very long waits and it was obvious that we weren't gonna make those today.
We ended up doing Turtle Talk with Crush and The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Honestly, these last 2 seemed like a waste to me but the boys seemed to like them well enough. I don't mean to say they weren't fun but I would've rather spent my time either waiting for Soarin or Test Track or moving on to the World Showcase.
DH was getting hungry so we decided that we would move on to the World Showcase. On the way DS happened to see the cart for Agent P's World Showcase Adventure. The CM said it should take around 20 minutes to solve the first case and if he didn't want to continue, their would be a drop-off location for the phone. We were going to the World Showcase anyhow so we decided he could do one case. We needed to go to Norway for the case but we stopped in Mexico to look at the QS menu because DH was getting very hot and hungry. We passed on Mexico and moved on to Norway. DS was working on his case and DH checked out the QS menu in Norway. We ruled out Norway and started moving on when DS got an "alert" on his Perry phone and needed to go BACK to Norway. This went on for a good little while when I finally told DS that he was gonna have to drop the phone off because we couldn't keep going back and forth. He solved the case for Norway and dropped it off. This would be a fun game if everyone hadn't been hungry and cranky.
We moved quickly through the countries looking for a QS that my PICKY family could agree on. We ended up at Liberty Inn. I can't say much for it other than it was quick. Everyone was complaining about sore feet so we decided to hop on the boat to take us back to the other side of Epcot.
From here, we made our way to the bus stop and headed to POR. This was not how I planned for our day to go and I realize NOW that I should not have added the hoppers. We would have been better off buying just the MK ticket and saving Epcot until next time we are at WDW. We missed a lot of things that I wanted to do at MK because we wanted to get to Epcot early enough to get back to MK for the extra magic hours. None of this happened because everyone was just too tired. POR was having movies under the stars with Frozen playing but we decided to just relax in our room and get some good rest before heading off to the Magic tomorrow.
We definitely still prefer to cruise over visiting the parks but we have decided to come back and stay longer and just visit the parks when we want and still have plenty of time to relax.
EPCOT
After our dining disappointment with BOG, we headed to the monorail so that we could get to Epcot. The flower and garden festival was really appealing to me and one of the reasons for wanting to visit Epcot. My plans were to visit Epcot in the afternoon and probably have dinner in the World Showcase (I had an ADR at San Angel but DH had me cancel it because he thought we would want QS.
) and then head back to MK at some point for the fireworks. Ambitious I know. Needless to say, things didn't go that way.Our first stop was Spaceship Earth. We all really enjoyed this nice and relaxing ride. We had no FP+ for anything at Epcot because we were there a day before the new options went into effect. I relied heavily on the MDE app for wait times. DS wanted to do Captain EO since it had Michael Jackson in it so we did. This was rather boring to me and once we left DS said that it was not at all what he was expecting. Oh well. From Captain EO, I want to say that we went to Club Cool. The boys were very excited to try the different flavors of Coke. Well, they were until they tried the Beverly! Eeeeewwwww!!! Its tough to get that taste out of your mouth. I really wish I had pictures to show the look on their faces when they tried it.
I really enjoyed being able to see all the beautiful topiaries.
According to the app, Mission Space had a very short wait time so we took advantage and headed on over. We chose the milder version of this ride and the boys really enjoyed it! They wanted to do it again but unfortunately the wait had grown while we were on the ride.
I think from Mission Space we grabbed some Mickey Bars before heading to Innoventions. The boys were fascinated with some of the exhibits and the CM talked us into the "video game". This was not at all what they were expecting but they had fun with it. We left Innoventions and I checked my app. Soarin and Test Track still had very long waits and it was obvious that we weren't gonna make those today.
We ended up doing Turtle Talk with Crush and The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Honestly, these last 2 seemed like a waste to me but the boys seemed to like them well enough. I don't mean to say they weren't fun but I would've rather spent my time either waiting for Soarin or Test Track or moving on to the World Showcase. DH was getting hungry so we decided that we would move on to the World Showcase. On the way DS happened to see the cart for Agent P's World Showcase Adventure. The CM said it should take around 20 minutes to solve the first case and if he didn't want to continue, their would be a drop-off location for the phone. We were going to the World Showcase anyhow so we decided he could do one case. We needed to go to Norway for the case but we stopped in Mexico to look at the QS menu because DH was getting very hot and hungry. We passed on Mexico and moved on to Norway. DS was working on his case and DH checked out the QS menu in Norway. We ruled out Norway and started moving on when DS got an "alert" on his Perry phone and needed to go BACK to Norway. This went on for a good little while when I finally told DS that he was gonna have to drop the phone off because we couldn't keep going back and forth. He solved the case for Norway and dropped it off. This would be a fun game if everyone hadn't been hungry and cranky.
We moved quickly through the countries looking for a QS that my PICKY family could agree on. We ended up at Liberty Inn. I can't say much for it other than it was quick. Everyone was complaining about sore feet so we decided to hop on the boat to take us back to the other side of Epcot.
From here, we made our way to the bus stop and headed to POR. This was not how I planned for our day to go and I realize NOW that I should not have added the hoppers. We would have been better off buying just the MK ticket and saving Epcot until next time we are at WDW. We missed a lot of things that I wanted to do at MK because we wanted to get to Epcot early enough to get back to MK for the extra magic hours. None of this happened because everyone was just too tired. POR was having movies under the stars with Frozen playing but we decided to just relax in our room and get some good rest before heading off to the Magic tomorrow.
We definitely still prefer to cruise over visiting the parks but we have decided to come back and stay longer and just visit the parks when we want and still have plenty of time to relax.
I'm enjoying your report....looking forward to the Magic (I've only cruised once ever, and it was on the Dream).
FWIW, I agree about the braised pork. My family really liked it. My sister and my elder DD are VERY picky and they loved it.....we actually went back to BOG for another lunch on that trip (last August) because of that sandwich.
FWIW, I agree about the braised pork. My family really liked it. My sister and my elder DD are VERY picky and they loved it.....we actually went back to BOG for another lunch on that trip (last August) because of that sandwich.
perfectmatch300
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2000
We had the same reaction to lunch at BOG as you did. Food was cold, meat was tough, bread was hard. That was right after they first opened, so I thought maybe it was because they were so new. I have been thinking about giving it another try. If I do, I'll order the braised pork!
tweis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
I am SO glad to hear that someone else didn't enjoy lunch at BOG!
I was starting to think that we were just overly picky.Not to say that I'm glad your lunch was bad just that I'm glad we aren't the only ones that didn't enjoy it.
tweis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
Check-out from POR was a breeze. A bill was delivered to our room the night before so we didn't even have to go down to the lobby. I was sad to leave POR especially since we really didn't get to spend that much time exploring the resort. I would love to stay at POR again in the future simply because it's a beautiful southern plantation type resort and I love the feel of that but logistics wise, I think I would prefer a monorail resort next time.
We decided that we would grab a quick bite on our way to the Port instead of eating at Riverside Mill.We had a PAT of 11-11:30 and DH was adamant that we get there by 11:00.
We had to make a stop at Wal-Mart because DS needed pajama shorts for the cruise and the closest appeared to be in Merit Island. We found Wal-Mart pretty easily but we had a heck of a time finding some quick breakfast. We ended up grabbing something at the McDonald's that's 5 minutes from the port.
We would be parking our rental car at the port. I know you can save money by parking at some of the lots in the area and taking a shuttle be we really just prefer to pay a little more and be able to walk straight out of the terminal to our car.
Our first glimpse of the Magic
For those of you that are not familiar with my PTR, the Magic was not the ship we had planned to sail. We had originally booked the Fantasy on opening day for May 24, 2014. We would have sailed the Western Caribbean which would have been all new ports for us with the exception of Castaway Cay. It was many months later that I realized that I had booked a cruise for the week that they boys would not be with us. Over the summer we rotate weeks with each child's other parent and I booked a week that they would not be with us. I checked other dates but the prices had risen drastically and I was not paying 7K
for a cruise that I had booked for 5K. So, that's when DH and I started searching other dates and decided to pull the boys out of school for a week which we had never done before. It came down to the 4 night Bahamas cruise on the Magic or a 5 night Wonder out of Miami. We chose the Magic simply because it seemed to offer more for the boys to do such as the Aqua Dunk, Avengers Academy and Twist & Spout. We decided on the April 28- May 2nd cruise.
So here we are about to embark on our first cruise on a classic ship. The Magic also seems to be a favorite with many many cruisers. To this point we had only sailed the Dream twice. We did a 5 night double dip in 2012 and in 2013, DH and I took a 3 night without the boys.
Since this would be our third trip to the Bahamas, I wanted to make it the best trip yet.
We decided that we would grab a quick bite on our way to the Port instead of eating at Riverside Mill.We had a PAT of 11-11:30 and DH was adamant that we get there by 11:00.
We had to make a stop at Wal-Mart because DS needed pajama shorts for the cruise and the closest appeared to be in Merit Island. We found Wal-Mart pretty easily but we had a heck of a time finding some quick breakfast. We ended up grabbing something at the McDonald's that's 5 minutes from the port.We would be parking our rental car at the port. I know you can save money by parking at some of the lots in the area and taking a shuttle be we really just prefer to pay a little more and be able to walk straight out of the terminal to our car.
Our first glimpse of the Magic
For those of you that are not familiar with my PTR, the Magic was not the ship we had planned to sail. We had originally booked the Fantasy on opening day for May 24, 2014. We would have sailed the Western Caribbean which would have been all new ports for us with the exception of Castaway Cay. It was many months later that I realized that I had booked a cruise for the week that they boys would not be with us. Over the summer we rotate weeks with each child's other parent and I booked a week that they would not be with us. I checked other dates but the prices had risen drastically and I was not paying 7K
for a cruise that I had booked for 5K. So, that's when DH and I started searching other dates and decided to pull the boys out of school for a week which we had never done before. It came down to the 4 night Bahamas cruise on the Magic or a 5 night Wonder out of Miami. We chose the Magic simply because it seemed to offer more for the boys to do such as the Aqua Dunk, Avengers Academy and Twist & Spout. We decided on the April 28- May 2nd cruise.So here we are about to embark on our first cruise on a classic ship. The Magic also seems to be a favorite with many many cruisers. To this point we had only sailed the Dream twice. We did a 5 night double dip in 2012 and in 2013, DH and I took a 3 night without the boys.
Since this would be our third trip to the Bahamas, I wanted to make it the best trip yet.
tweis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
The Magic
We entered the port around 10:50 and were directed to a porter that would unload our bags. We then headed to the parking deck to find a spot. I had prepaid for parking just to have it out of the way. We were carrying on one rollaway because it had beer and swimsuits in it. We showed our passports and were directed inside. Once inside we quickly made our way through security and into the terminal. We headed straight to the castaway club line and waited maybe 5 minutes before we were at the counter. We were given our KTTW cards, boarding #3 and our silver lanyards. Last year, boarding began promptly at 11:30 on the Dream but we weren't sure what to expect with the Magic. We got the navigator for the day and took a seat to look it over.
The boys started getting a little antsy by 11:30 and honestly, so was I. Boarding didn't start until around 11:50! I don't know if this is normal or not for the classics but that is what time boarding began on our cruise.
We were boarding #3 so once boarding started, we were almost immediately called. We skipped the boarding photo line and went straight on to the ship. Our name was announced and we were finally on the Magic!
(This was not taken immediately after boarding )
A very informative CM told us where we could find lunch and we decided to give Carioca's a try but first, I wanted to head to guest services to check on Mixology and the guys had to visit the men's room.
I was utterly amazed at how small everything seemed compared to the Dream. I found guest services and found out that only one mixology class was being offered on our cruise and unfortunately it was the at 1:30 on our sea day. We had a brunch reservation Thursday at 11:00 and wasn't sure how long it would last so we opted to skip mixology.
I met up with the guys and we headed to Carioca's.
Carioca's had a small buffet similar to Enchanted Garden on the Dream. We prefer the sit down restaurants for embarkation lunch when our boys are with us because it's just easier. The buffet had lots of nice choices but unfortunately I didn't take pics. One thing I was very glad to see was a small area set up with common kid's food choices including mac & chs, spaghetti and mini corn dogs. Of course this trip, my boys wanted "real" food.
Everything was very tasty and we felt that their was plenty of choices of both "real" food and desserts.
Up next......my first drink of the day
We entered the port around 10:50 and were directed to a porter that would unload our bags. We then headed to the parking deck to find a spot. I had prepaid for parking just to have it out of the way. We were carrying on one rollaway because it had beer and swimsuits in it. We showed our passports and were directed inside. Once inside we quickly made our way through security and into the terminal. We headed straight to the castaway club line and waited maybe 5 minutes before we were at the counter. We were given our KTTW cards, boarding #3 and our silver lanyards. Last year, boarding began promptly at 11:30 on the Dream but we weren't sure what to expect with the Magic. We got the navigator for the day and took a seat to look it over.
The boys started getting a little antsy by 11:30 and honestly, so was I.
Boarding didn't start until around 11:50! I don't know if this is normal or not for the classics but that is what time boarding began on our cruise.We were boarding #3 so once boarding started, we were almost immediately called. We skipped the boarding photo line and went straight on to the ship. Our name was announced and we were finally on the Magic!
(This was not taken immediately after boarding )A very informative CM told us where we could find lunch and we decided to give Carioca's a try but first, I wanted to head to guest services to check on Mixology and the guys had to visit the men's room.
I was utterly amazed at how small everything seemed compared to the Dream. I found guest services and found out that only one mixology class was being offered on our cruise and unfortunately it was the at 1:30 on our sea day. We had a brunch reservation Thursday at 11:00 and wasn't sure how long it would last so we opted to skip mixology.
I met up with the guys and we headed to Carioca's.
Carioca's had a small buffet similar to Enchanted Garden on the Dream. We prefer the sit down restaurants for embarkation lunch when our boys are with us because it's just easier. The buffet had lots of nice choices but unfortunately I didn't take pics. One thing I was very glad to see was a small area set up with common kid's food choices including mac & chs, spaghetti and mini corn dogs. Of course this trip, my boys wanted "real" food.
Everything was very tasty and we felt that their was plenty of choices of both "real" food and desserts.
Up next......my first drink of the day
tweis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day! I am working on my next installment but I'm starting to think that maybe I'm providing a little too much detail.......
Let me know.....am I boring you to death by telling you every move we made or do you enjoy hearing the details? Let me know guys.
Let me know.....am I boring you to death by telling you every move we made or do you enjoy hearing the details? Let me know guys.
tweis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
tweis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
After our nice lunch in Caricoa's, we decided to head up to the pool deck and let the boys ride the much anticipated Aqua Dunk. We made a quick stop at a restroom so the boys could change into their swimming trunks. DH and I decided that we would not change just yet that we would have ourselves a drink of the day which happened to be the PARADISE! 
This was our favorite drink on the Dream. We have tried recreating it sooooooo many times and have gotten close but never just right.
I've read many times to just wear your swimsuit under your clothes, which in hindsight would have been fine for the boys and for DH and I, but having them in our carry-on worked just fine. The boys had been looking forward to the aqua dunk and they were finally gonna give it a try!
They rode it a few consecutive times, came and told us how great and scary it was, and then moved on to the Twist & Spout. While they were doing that, we were doing this.
Yummy! These are delicious! I panicked when I realized the CM had put the drink in a souvenir cup but I figured "what the heck"! I was pleasantly surprised when I signed the slip and realized that a mistake had obviously been made because we were only charged $4.50 each! We had not been charged for the cup!
I did NOT bring this to his attention but I did add a nice tip for him.
This was our favorite drink on the Dream. We have tried recreating it sooooooo many times and have gotten close but never just right. I've read many times to just wear your swimsuit under your clothes, which in hindsight would have been fine for the boys and for DH and I, but having them in our carry-on worked just fine. The boys had been looking forward to the aqua dunk and they were finally gonna give it a try!
They rode it a few consecutive times, came and told us how great and scary it was, and then moved on to the Twist & Spout. While they were doing that, we were doing this.
Yummy! These are delicious! I panicked when I realized the CM had put the drink in a souvenir cup but I figured "what the heck"! I was pleasantly surprised when I signed the slip and realized that a mistake had obviously been made because we were only charged $4.50 each! We had not been charged for the cup!
I did NOT bring this to his attention but I did add a nice tip for him.
tweis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
The boys rode the Twist & Spout a few times and DH and I may or may not have had another drink. 
We are on vacation after all. Around 1:20 we decided to head up to see if the staterooms were ready. In the past, the rope has been dropped right at 1:30 but that was not the case on the Magic. We actually ended up waiting until around 1:40. Not a big deal but the area was getting super crowded with everyone waiting for the rope to drop.
We were finally on our way to our home for the next 4 nights. We had sprang for a veranda since DH and I had enjoyed having having one so much on the Dream. This would be the boy's first time with one and they were very excited. Before our cruise I had gotten Barb to make us some magnets for our door. I have to say that she did an excellent job.
Our Castaway Club gift
We really like the backpack that was offered before this bag. I had heard that a lot of cruisers were unhappy with the quality of these bags but our's appeared to be sturdy enough. We never used it so I can't say as to whether the handles held up with stuff in the bag. The boys did hang the magnet/whiteboard on the door.
Our gift from Dreams Unlimited
The bag included: 4 packages of fruit snacks, bag of mixed chocolates, flower highlighter, white board w/marker, door magnet, 3 large magnetic clips, deck of cards, hand sanitizing wipes, 2 water bottles, 2 coffee type go cups, stop watch/clock that clips onto your belt loop, 2 light up necklaces for pirate night and the bag is a reusable bag! Very useful stuff. I will miss this next cruise because it is unlikely that we will be leaving from Port Canaveral.
We are on vacation after all. Around 1:20 we decided to head up to see if the staterooms were ready. In the past, the rope has been dropped right at 1:30 but that was not the case on the Magic. We actually ended up waiting until around 1:40. Not a big deal but the area was getting super crowded with everyone waiting for the rope to drop.We were finally on our way to our home for the next 4 nights. We had sprang for a veranda since DH and I had enjoyed having having one so much on the Dream. This would be the boy's first time with one and they were very excited. Before our cruise I had gotten Barb to make us some magnets for our door. I have to say that she did an excellent job.
Our Castaway Club gift
We really like the backpack that was offered before this bag. I had heard that a lot of cruisers were unhappy with the quality of these bags but our's appeared to be sturdy enough. We never used it so I can't say as to whether the handles held up with stuff in the bag. The boys did hang the magnet/whiteboard on the door.Our gift from Dreams Unlimited
The bag included: 4 packages of fruit snacks, bag of mixed chocolates, flower highlighter, white board w/marker, door magnet, 3 large magnetic clips, deck of cards, hand sanitizing wipes, 2 water bottles, 2 coffee type go cups, stop watch/clock that clips onto your belt loop, 2 light up necklaces for pirate night and the bag is a reusable bag! Very useful stuff. I will miss this next cruise because it is unlikely that we will be leaving from Port Canaveral.
magrudersmakes3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2011
We are doing the Magic next year so keep the details coming
tweis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 21, 2012
We are doing the Magic next year so keep the details coming
You got it!
I'm uploading pics now so that I can hopefully do my next installment tomorrow.
st8y
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2011
What a great loot from Dreams Unlimited!!
They are our TA too. We didn't get a gift on our previous cruise. Is it something they offer on subsequent cruises?
They are our TA too. We didn't get a gift on our previous cruise. Is it something they offer on subsequent cruises?
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