Value Resorts and Inside Staterooms? Bah Humbug! 30 days of Disney fun! 02/10 Day 30

[dizneeat]

We have done most of the tours at the MK and even did some of them twice! But when I found out about this new one - I knew I had another highlight!

Star Tours should be closed - they have a "Last Tour to Endor" event on August 14 and should close as of September 8.
The closure of IASW is on Disney's own homepage - MK!! (Check the calendar it's on there) Closed from Aug 1 to Oct 23
TSM is supposed to close on August 15 - our luck we arrive on Aug 14!
and supposed to open again on Sept 5!
Kathy you should be good then - you'll arrive AFTER Sept 5
Info comes from Stitchkingdom!

Hm, Kathy did you by any chance "miss" the message that was meant for you?

This was posted on my PTR by a friend so it looks as if TSM will open before we get there.

According to Stitch Kingdom, TSM will be closed between 8/15 and 9/04

Stitchkingdom has a remark there, that this info comes from an "unofficial" source - so take it with a grain of salt!

Mark and I MUST save for one of these cruises -- they look heavenly.

Kathy, we NEVER thought that we would even go on a second cruise and here we are with two cruises back to back!
Disney knows HOW to travel and HOW to cater to everyone on the ship! I am sooooooooooo looking forward to our next cruise experience!

Your time on the cruise looks really fantastic!!
And the restaurant you took you cat sitters too? I wanna move to Austria just for that food!!!
And I can't believe theyre closing TSM!!! I didnt get to go on it last year, so we were really looking forward to it this year!

We LOVED our first cruise! It was a dream come true!
Oh, Austria has LOADS more (and more good food) to offer! It's worth a trip!!!

Well, if TSM is closed during your trip - makes for a good reason to plan another trip to Mickey's World!

DH and I spent the second half of our honeymoon at a resort in Nassau. Our resort was beautiful but the downtown area left something to be desired. I thought I was getting a bargain with the fake bags, turns out they fell apart not too long after I got home and began using them. Oh well, live and learn. What I suggest you do, is take a water ferry (it's only a couple of dollars) over to Paradise Island and follow the masses to the Atlantis. They have a shopping area that is very nice and you can get a treat there (I believe they have a starbucks, a smoothie place, and a Ben & Jerry's icecream shop). Walk into the Atlantis and check it out. They have an aquarium you can visit (it does cost money but a part of it I believe is free to view). They have a casino there as well. The atmosphere of Paradise Island doesn't feel as run down as Nassau. Although, on our way back from visiting Paradise Island we took a cab b/c it was raining and had to take a detour b/c of road construction and our cab driver drove past his church and through some of the residential areas and it was really interesting to see.

Wow! That is VERY valueable information! I just copied your post to my trip notes and we will definitely try it out!
I never looked into Atlantis, but if we can get a ferry than we should be fine and we can always take a taxi back too!
We're not keen on the casino, but the aquarium sounds nice - don't mind paying for it!
Last year we did a Sea and See tour of Nassau and it was nowhere near what I expected.
They put us on a submarine for over an hour and it was boiling hot in that tin, we did see some nice fish, but I was glad when it was over.
The second part was a "sightseeing tour! unfortunately there weren't many sights to see - a police station, a hospital, a radio station, a water tower and a fort as far as I recall - the most frightening thing was that the driver had us repositioned on the bus, so the "weight" was distributed evenly and the "bus" would not tip over! I was glad when we were able to get off! Once was more than enough!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Found your PTR and am all caught up!

I'm drooling over your ADRs; this is the first trip that I've ever taken (out of 20+ trips) where I won't be making a single ADR. DH wants to just wing things and stick with CS. I still have minor panic attacks just thinking about not carrying an ADR confirmation print-out with me. So, I can live through your ADRs now, instead!

We've never eaten at WPE; we ate at the restaurant on two trips, and both experiences were terrible. I've heard great things about WPE, so I'm hoping to try it this trip since stubborn DH just wants to stick with CS. (I do understand his reasoning; he's only been with me twice, and we never take the time to try CS places because we always have multiple ADRs each day. He agreed to go back not even a year after our last trip, so I guess I can deal with it.)

I'm so jealous of the cruises!! We took a Carnival cruise with our in-laws and yuck, yuck all around!!! I hated it, but I so want to do a WDW cruise. I already told DH that when I graduate from law school, a WDW cruise is going to be my gift to myself!

Can't wait for more!!!!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Awww, I wish you could pack me in your luggage and BRING ME WITH YOU!!!

This cruise looks like it will be amazing. I can't wait to go on my own Disney cruise

 

[KatMark]

Hm, Kathy did you by any chance "miss" the message that was meant for you?



Stitchkingdom has a remark there, that this info comes from an "unofficial" source - so take it with a grain of salt!



Kathy, we NEVER thought that we would even go on a second cruise and here we are with two cruises back to back!
Disney knows HOW to travel and HOW to cater to everyone on the ship! I am sooooooooooo looking forward to our next cruise experience!



We LOVED our first cruise! It was a dream come true!
Oh, Austria has LOADS more (and more good food) to offer! It's worth a trip!!!

Well, if TSM is closed during your trip - makes for a good reason to plan another trip to Mickey's World!

YES, I did miss it. I admit...I skimmed.

Hopefully, it will be open for the end of your trip and the beginning of mine.

 

[dizneeat]

Found your PTR and am all caught up!

I'm drooling over your ADRs; this is the first trip that I've ever taken (out of 20+ trips) where I won't be making a single ADR. DH wants to just wing things and stick with CS. I still have minor panic attacks just thinking about not carrying an ADR confirmation print-out with me. So, I can live through your ADRs now, instead!

We've never eaten at WPE; we ate at the restaurant on two trips, and both experiences were terrible. I've heard great things about WPE, so I'm hoping to try it this trip since stubborn DH just wants to stick with CS. (I do understand his reasoning; he's only been with me twice, and we never take the time to try CS places because we always have multiple ADRs each day. He agreed to go back not even a year after our last trip, so I guess I can deal with it.)

I'm so jealous of the cruises!! We took a Carnival cruise with our in-laws and yuck, yuck all around!!! I hated it, but I so want to do a WDW cruise. I already told DH that when I graduate from law school, a WDW cruise is going to be my gift to myself!

Can't wait for more!!!!

Welcome!

Don't be too jealous about all of my ADRs, LOL, they keep changing all the time as Disney changes park hours for me all the time, so the load we have this time is hard to keep up with!
There are lots of yummy CS options throughout WDW and you MUST try WPE! We have been to the Cafe too and weren't that much impressed, especially with the service, which felt very rushed, but WPE at the Marketplace is like a CS with a TS feel. You order at a counter and then the food is brought out to you - real plates and real cutlery!!

We loved our first Disney cruise! So much we rebooked while we were still on board!
We did a four night cruise and there was so much to do and see we didn't even have time to check out ALL the different decks!
So, I guess we HAD TO go back!
Going on a Disney cruise as your graduation gift is a perfect idea! There's nothing better than a Disney vacation!

Awww, I wish you could pack me in your luggage and BRING ME WITH YOU!!!

This cruise looks like it will be amazing. I can't wait to go on my own Disney cruise

You need to look into Disney cruises! We can't wait for the new Disney Dream to go into service next year! It's a wonderful experience - and you would LOVE it!!!

YES, I did miss it. I admit...I skimmed.

Hopefully, it will be open for the end of your trip and the beginning of mine.

Don't worry about missing it, it happens to the best of us!

I hope TSM will be open for the last few days we are there too!

Did you read about the rumoured changes to LeCellier and DDP??
The rumour is that LC is going to be a signature dining location! Means 2 TS credits, less tables (if that is even possible) and a new revamped menu! Changing over is supposed to take place in September!!!!!!!!!!! Hope they will still be open when we have an ADR there on September 2nd!

The British TAs offer a completely different DDP for 2011!! Nothing confirmed yet, but since they all have the same changes it looks likely!
QSDDP - no more desserts with CS meals, no more mug!
Basic DDP - no more desserts with either CS or TS meals, but a second snack!
DxDDP - no more desserts either!
I wonder if this is going through! IF it is, the DDP will no longer be a good value for us! TiW how we love thee!

 

[dizneeat]

Plans: Day 16 - 18


Day 16
Sunday, August 29

Debarkation and embarkation day!

Guess we will be up early and head for breakfast to our assigned breakfast location. After that we will just pick up our small suitcase and leave the ship.

Since we have to leave the ship anyway we will drive to Cocoa Beach and do a bit of shopping for drinks and look around a bit. At around 11am we will head back to the ship, park the car in the carpark and head back to check in for the next cruise. Since we won’t have much luggage it should be a piece of cake!

Once back on board we will head for either Parrot Cay or Beach Blanket and enjoy some lunch and an adult beverage.

By 1.30 we will be able to go back to our stateroom, relax for a while and then wait for the lifeboat drill. After that we will return the life jackets to our stateroom and head upstairs for the sail away party.

Once we are done waving to the people on the pier we will then head back to our stateroom to chill out a bit before we walk to the Walt Disney Theater, to watch the Golden Mickeys again. It’s such a fun show!

Next we will go to our restaurant for the evening, which will only be revealed once we have checked in that morning.

After dinner we will hand out the first round of Fish Extender goodies.
And I have a feeling we will hit the beds early that day!


Day 17
Monday, August 30

And another day in Nassau.
So after enjoying the view from our balcony in the early morning,

we will head to Triton’s for breakfast.

Since we won’t do another Disney excursion here we will take Disney Crafters advice and take a ferry to the Atlantis, to do some shopping,

and check out the aquarium.

Once we are back on board the Wonder and will grab something from Goofy’s Galley or Pluto’s Doghouse, and hand out another round of Fish Extender gifts.

In the early evening we’ll head to the Walt Disney Theater again and enjoy “Toy Story – The Musical”.

They are done so well, you completely forget you are on board a ship, feels like a Broadway Production – well, Disney knows how to work its pixie dust!

We hope to have dinner at Palo that night

and after that we will enjoy a little chill time on our balcony, before we hit our beds early that evening.

Castaway Cay day the next day! Yippie!!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 18
Tuesday, August 31

Castaway Cay revisited!

Our day will be started by a room service breakfast after we hopefully see the Wonder dock at Castaway Cay. Once they allowed people on the island we plan to get off the ship and head for the tram to Serenity Bay.

We will try to find some nice deck chairs and enjoy the beach and the adult drinks that are served.

For our lunch we will just walk over to Cookie’s 2 for some barbeque goodies.

In the mid afternoon we will make our way back to the ship, but not without stopping at She Sells Seashells to pick up a souvenir or two.

Once we are back in our stateroom we will freshen up and chill on the balcony until the ship is set to leave Castaway Cay.
We will then head to the upper deck and watch the Wonder pull away from this tropical paradise.

Then we will do another round of Fish Extender gifties and relax in our cabin for a while. That night there will be the Pirates IN the Caribbean dinner and party.

So after dinner we will join the other guests on deck and enjoy the party and the fireworks at sea.

It was fun to see a few other cruiseships around the Wonder last summer, all stopping for the Disney Wonder's fireworks!

This year we hope to make it to the dessert buffet after the fireworks. Last year we completely forgot about them! So this is going to be another day full of fun.

 

[tinacaplan]

WOW! You're making me want to look into cruises! I'm sure we'll do one at some point. My husband would love to take a cruise to Alaska. That would certainly be an adventure.

Great pictures, too! Hope you've had a great weekend over there.

 

[klacey1]

Ooo, both the Pirates party and Toy Story musical look really fun!!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

The shopping at Atlantis is fun! That was the one part of our Carnival cruise that I enjoyed.

The WDW cruise just looks like a blast; I can't wait! Must start saving now. (Well, you know, after our October trip and our first trip to DLR next summer. )

Thanks again for the WPE advice! We'll definitely try it on our day at Downtown Disney. Anything you think we should not miss?

 

[YukiPhnx]

I LOVED visiting the Atlantis hotel. The details are incredible. The aquarium is aso beautiful. I love how they make it look like ruins under the sea

 

[KatMark]

Okay; you have convinced Mark and I that we need to do the Disney Cruise. So I'm going to start putting a little money away each week and we are going to plan to do this in 2013. Mark will turn 60 and it will be our 30th wedding anniversary and I think this would be a perfect way to celebrate both those occasions.

 

[Stefy]

Update with EXCITING NEWS!!!!!!

Today I found out that Disney offers a new behind the scenes tour!

It's called ............

and I just got off the phone because we are booked on the tour on Aug 22!!!

So, I haven't even finished posting my planned itinerary and I am already going to change things around!

Got a 15% discount on the tour with our APs too!! :woohoo

So the prospect of NO TSM made it easier to decide the day and instead of going to DHS to ride TSM we are now going to DHS while on the tour! ,
we will stay with our plans of having lunch at Captain Cooks and the rest of the day stays the same as well!

This tour sounds really cool, hope you have a great time on it and score on the 15% discount.

Star Tours should be closed - they have a "Last Tour to Endor" event on August 14 and should close as of September 8.
The closure of IASW is on Disney's own homepage - MK!! (Check the calendar it's on there) Closed from Aug 1 to Oct 23
TSM is supposed to close on August 15 - our luck we arrive on Aug 14!
and supposed to open again on Sept 5!
Kathy you should be good then - you'll arrive AFTER Sept 5

Info comes from Stitchkingdom!

Can't believe all the closures/changes this year

DH and I spent the second half of our honeymoon at a resort in Nassau. Our resort was beautiful but the downtown area left something to be desired. I thought I was getting a bargain with the fake bags, turns out they fell apart not too long after I got home and began using them. Oh well, live and learn. What I suggest you do, is take a water ferry (it's only a couple of dollars) over to Paradise Island and follow the masses to the Atlantis. They have a shopping area that is very nice and you can get a treat there (I believe they have a starbucks, a smoothie place, and a Ben & Jerry's icecream shop). Walk into the Atlantis and check it out. They have an aquarium you can visit (it does cost money but a part of it I believe is free to view). They have a casino there as well. The atmosphere of Paradise Island doesn't feel as run down as Nassau. Although, on our way back from visiting Paradise Island we took a cab b/c it was raining and had to take a detour b/c of road construction and our cab driver drove past his church and through some of the residential areas and it was really interesting to see.

Me and DF actually looked into holidaying here once. It is totally commercialised, but looks like alot of fun. Its supposed to be one of the worlds largest aquariums, the casino is supposed to be pretty good and the water slides are awesome too (not sure if non guests can use the pool etc, but I know that you can get a day pass to Atlantis), they have this huge maya temple like water slide which is really high and shoots you down into a plexi glass tunnel which is surrounded by sharks. There is also another tunnel, like the lazy river at Disney, where you just float along next to the sharks (behind glass of course).

Did you read about the rumoured changes to LeCellier and DDP??
The rumour is that LC is going to be a signature dining location! Means 2 TS credits, less tables (if that is even possible) and a new revamped menu! Changing over is supposed to take place in September!!!!!!!!!!! Hope they will still be open when we have an ADR there on September 2nd!

I heard this too and am not best pleased, but DF says its all still in the rumour mill at the moment, nothing concrete has come out yet.

But if it does go Signature I am not sure if we could support Disney's decision and might cancel our ADR

Okay; you have convinced Mark and I that we need to do the Disney Cruise. So I'm going to start putting a little money away each week and we are going to plan to do this in 2013. Mark will turn 60 and it will be our 30th wedding anniversary and I think this would be a perfect way to celebrate both those occasions.

I was totally convinced on doing a Cruise after I read my first TR of Karin's, I think Paulo sealed the deal for me (I think it was brunch or lunch where she posted all those pics of these yummy awesome looking desserts).

Karin, you plans for your Cruise days look fabulous and I am really excited, if not a teeny bit jealous, for you

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Oh, the tour looks so interesting. I think I'd like that one.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Me and DF actually looked into holidaying here once. It is totally commercialised, but looks like alot of fun. Its supposed to be one of the worlds largest aquariums, the casino is supposed to be pretty good and the water slides are awesome too (not sure if non guests can use the pool etc, but I know that you can get a day pass to Atlantis), they have this huge maya temple like water slide which is really high and shoots you down into a plexi glass tunnel which is surrounded by sharks. There is also another tunnel, like the lazy river at Disney, where you just float along next to the sharks (behind glass of course).

I totally agree with you! The casino was definitely nothing to write home about, there are nicer ones here in IL even. To be able to use their water facilities for the day if you aren't a guest is something like $100 or more! The aquarium is around $20-$25 a person, so that's not too bad. We went to the Bahamas for the beautiful water. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort and the property was beautiful. I miss it every day. The resort we stayed at even offers a "day pass" where people on cruises can come and visit for the day and pay a flat rate to use the pool, the private beach, and eat and drink all you can! If we go on a Bahamian cruise I definitely would do this, as there is not much to do.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

YAY! I am so excited that you liked my suggestion. DH and I are most likely doing a cruise for our vacation next year and DH is definitely sold on the Disney cruises, if only they didn't cost so much more than a Carnival cruise. However, we could do a 3 or 4 night Bahamas cruise and then spend a few days in WDW, even though I tell him no WDW next year.

 

[DaveInTN]

Karin - just thought I'd let you know I am ordering WPE for my office for lunch today. I'm getting the Rotisserie BBQ Beef Focaccia Melt! Yum!

He is my 2nd favorite Austrian...after you of course!

 

[Stefy]

Hi Karin, hope you and Tom are having/had a blast at DLRP, looking forward to hearing all about it

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

I am really late to this....but I'm here now!!! Great pre-trip report and I'm looking forward to your updates

 

[Kellybelly777]

I saw you just got back from DLRP, how was it? im dying to know!!!