cakesnjammom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2006
- Messages
- 1,115
Yes that is what my dd said when I said something about WDW while on the ship....but WDW is closed because all the characters are here 
SUMMARY:
Here is a summary of our trip tips in case you want to skip the details
:
Things I learned or would do differently next cruise:
*I would eat in the dining rooms on the 1st and last nights only and maybe formal night depending on the clothes I take etc .
*I would dine at Topsiders all the other nights. We ate there on Pirate night to allow us more time for other activities that evening. The food was excellent and HOT and the kids were able to bring in stuff from the quick counters around the pool deck. And it is casual dress and on YOUR schedule flexible times. DH was thrilled to have 2 steak choices: a porterhouse or a prime rib VS dining rooms one steak cut offering. Food was great.
*The verandah was so nice but for US, I do not think we would ever do it again. The light and heat were hard to combat (we are hot natured) and we really did not spend too much time out there. Loved the view at Castaway Cay (we were starboard) and dh loved being able to smoke his cigars out there but all in all it was not a MUST if we go again. The kids really loved it too and it was great to experience once.
*Shutters has a photo opps board for each day of the cruise. Check it out if you want a picture with a character in a certain outfit. I have to say I am disgusted with the Shutters staff they were not very helpful! I went in to find out what Daisy was going to wear one night because I wanted a pic w/ her in her light blue sparkly dress. They told me she would be casual so I skipped it and the next day I see the photos of her in that dress w/ cruisers. Not the only problem we experienced w/ the Shutters staff. We brought tuxes to have pics made with Minnie and Mickey in their tux and gown and they wear GOLD outfits on Formal night and Tux/Gown on semi-formal night----arghhhh.
*YES we took too many clothes. I washed laundry twice while onboard and found that we gravitated to the most comfortable clothes, especially after all those large meals. LOL
*My desk fan I brought along was priceless!
*We stayed on the ship at all ports except Grand Cayman (rain) and Castaway Cay and there is plenty to do if you do not book excursions so never fear! You wil have more of the boat to enjoy. We left CC about 1:30 pm and the pools were very empty. We swam and watched Lady and the Tramp on the ariel screen!
*If you want to win the $300 credit at the DVC presentation do not attend the 1st one. It was so packed that they had to bring in more chairs. (Seems that DVC members attend too)
*Play BINGO before the last night then you can buy loyalty cards at the last game. ALL the people that WON when we played had that electronic BINGO box just our observation.
*Snorkeling at CC .to cut costs in half, split the cost of snorkel gear with another family (check your meets board) and set up times that work for each family to use them. My dh and ds snorkeled and after an hour they were done so another family could have used the stuff! The gear just needs to be dropped in bins on your way out. FYI we were told Minnie statue has not been found since the last storm at CC.
*NAP!!!! Activities start early and end late naps are so important for the sanity of your family J There is more down time options in the middle of the day. If you are tired the Walt Disney Theatre is an easy place to involuntarily fall asleep. The shows are GREAT but the rocking, darkness and comfort can really trick you into some zzzzs.
*Over the door shoe organizer! I know you read this everywhere but it really does keep you organized.
*Drop off your autograph books at guest services and forget hauling them around the ship this also speeds up the character lines!
*You will never do it all relax and enjoy .if you miss something do not sweat it.
*Participate in the shows if offered. My dh became a cruise celebrity and he loved it. People asked for his autograph and photo and said hello to him all over the ship! It helps that he wears unique Mickey Ears hat all over the boat too.
*PRIOR to this I hated the idea of staying on deck 1 or 2 BUT really they were quiet and if you hate to feel the motion of the ship it IS much less noticeable to me on lower decks.
*The FE group was great. My kids were SO excited to get back to the room and see what they had received. Join yours.
*We met so many great people from our meets board thread! It was so fun seeing everyone. We had an awesome group wish we could all do it again! We may have to form a group similar to B.O.B. and cruise together when we can. Great folks! J
Detailed:
MNSSHP, Wishes Dessert Party, Boarding Day!
3 Netflix movies and 1 Redbox movie and the kids were out like lights .it was so nice traveling at night while they slept, traffic was light, cooler temps and no construction delays! We arrived in PC on Thursday night about 12 midnight because we attended the MNSSHP on the 18th of Sept. (Friday night) so we arrived in PC on Thursday. MNSSHP was a BLAST and we got in around 4pm .we had time to eat (Cosmic Rays) and we got to ride all the kid rides with very little wait time!! We had been looking forward to getting all of our faces painted (FREE in ToonTown at 7pm) well I knew if we waited too long that there would be a LONG line (thanks to DISers). So we headed towards ToonTown from Dumbo! Got there and there were only 5 people in line so stoked! So we got in line and it did not take us long before we were all painted and on our way again.
Then we did TomorrowLand rides and candy routes including Alices along with the dance party happening in Tomorrow Land between Buzz LY and Space Mtn. (closed still) and headed towards Wishes Dessert Party. I should mention that since we were leaving for the cruise the next day so we decided NOT to do characters at MNSSHP and that did save A LOT of time!! Wishes Dessert Party was great! Definitely worth it! We got a great table where we could see sitting down from our party table. We had a NICE DCL family sitting next to us from CA and we chatted with them which was nice because they got us even more excited about the coming cruise. On a side note: just so you know once we checked in and were lead to our assigned table I was told we could go out and watch the parade and return (they gave us wristbands for the Dessert Party upon checking in) but we did not take advantage of leaving it and returning because we knew we were going to the last parade and we were going to stay as late as we could. We sat on the right side of the viewing deck section C. My family went over to the left side and got to watch the Villain Show from there too. The Hallo-Wishes fireworks were absolutely breathtaking .gorgeous and we really enjoyed having our own spot to view them.
Now take note I am just a good ole southern girl but when I have been waiting for a parade or fireworks show to start for 45 mins. saving my spot and when they begin someone comes and stands in front of me with their kid on their shoulders (you know the ones and if you dont know one then you are that person!) this situation bothers me so crazy I have to say something to them. I am not rude and I do not particularly want a fight but it really irks me that people have NO regard for anyone, there is a least ONE in every crowd! Which brings me to a story, one year we walked up to the area for Wishes viewing early enough to find a spot and everyone was sitting on the ground in front of the castle (it was free dining and I think everyone was just plain too full to stand! Anyway, I sat my rather large behind on the ground and waited like everyone else. Well this lady has the audacity to come and stand directly in front of me with NO regard to anyone behind her. I politely tapped on her leg and said all I can see is your behind and she continued to stand there (and yes she spoke English) so I sternly said I cannot see please find a spot to move to? She was fairly miffed at me and I am so sorry that their mama did not raise them to have respect for others but it ended up that it was not my problem because she did finally move along I know I am rambling but I had to show you there are several in every crowd and this night was no exception. If you wore blue Hawaiian pants or an adult Minnie dress to the MNSSHP on the 18th then the answer is YES you WERE obstructing the view of the people behind you. When you look around and you are the only one standing that should be a hint! To make things worse Mama Minnie decided to dance to the parade music (which I am all for dance until your heart is content - as long as it is not the ME show you are making me watch instead of the function that Disney is putting on) so trying to see around her was a crap shoot. You could see the disgust for their disregard written all over the crowds faces but somehow it did not phase them??? I just do not get it.
So on with the show my kids had a great view and that is what matters to me!
It was a great night and so WORTH it for our family the Dessert Party was a great energizer for us and we left the park when the HP was over and headed back to our port hotel! After getting our exhausted kids back to the Residence Inn we took them up and bathed them and got them into their beds then packed what we could and laid out our stuff for the next day.
We were SO impressed with the Residence Inn at the port. Clean and friendly staff with a great breakfast buffet. And kids loved it too because we all had space to ourselves, not to mention that ds 7 year old got his own king size bed like ours. I highly recommend them.
Pool at Residence Inn
We ended up parking at the port because we decided at the last minute to try to upgrade at the port. So we drove our van and parked there (yes, bye bye $105 we were supposed to save on parking) but we talked and it will save us time when we return too so we parked at the port.
When we got to the port around 10 am we arrived to the Disney lot and there was a long line of folks waiting to go into the right lane of the DCL parking area. Then a Radisson bus pulled in and took the left lane so I watched to see where it lead and they went to baggage drop off area. SO I told dh to take us to baggage drop off and then go park. So the kids and I got out and made our way up to the terminal. My kids were really excited and I was really focused on getting what I needed done in port so this was not a good combo. My ds had 4013 questions and my brain will not even work! Can you say overload?
I AM TYPING THIS IN ALL CAPS IN ORDER TO HELP ANYONE LIKE ME OUT THERE. I DID NOT BRING MY PURSE ON THE CRUISE dh had everything in his money clip money, my DL and the credit card. I had made a folder prior to leaving home that contained all our passports and documents I would need for check in so I did not really think I would need money - NOT. Be sure you have a way to PAY FOR THE UPGRADE AT THE PORT with you if you choose to take the offer. You have to pay for it right then and dh was no where to be found. The CM said you will have to step out of line and if someone else wants this upgrade, I will have to give the cabin to them. Well the very next person wanted a CAT 6 too and I was crushed until I heard the CM give her a different room number than I was offered got on the phone with dh and treated him like all this was somehow his fault. Where are you you are screwing this up for everyone!!! But he, like usual, quickly came to my rescue and we got a CAT 6, cabin 6614 and it was great.
We met tons of our DIS friends in the port and it was so fun. Upon meeting some of them I realized I had left my FE paperwork with copies of the FE delivery map we made for our group. DH went out to grab it and realized that we had also left one suitcase that held all of our shoes in our van. See what I get for rushing dh! Whew!
We got boarding pass 4 and it took us no time to board the ship. We headed straight to Rockin D for Palo Brunch ressies and to change Palo Dinner ressie b/c it did not work with our PLAAPLA dinner rotation. We also saw Gretchen and she kindly told us to request Anne Marie as our server in Palo and we did. Boy is she good at her job more to come about this! Then we headed to guest services for Tea w/ Alice tickets, Galley Tour tickets and info on the Art of Entertaining. We were set. So up to Topsiders for lunch and then off to the pool.
PLAAPLA was our rotation. We had: Palo Brunch Sunday at 10:30 am, Palo Dinner Thursday at 7:30 pm and Alice Tea on Monday at 3:30 pm. We cancelled our galley tour maybe next time.
The kids loved the Mickey pool and slide and enjoyed it for awhile and this is where I notice some tension amongst the guests .
Up next the Splash Zone fury! CAT 6 folks and a MUSTARD drill.
more pics soon...still uploading!
SUMMARY:
Here is a summary of our trip tips in case you want to skip the details
:Things I learned or would do differently next cruise:
*I would eat in the dining rooms on the 1st and last nights only and maybe formal night depending on the clothes I take etc .
*I would dine at Topsiders all the other nights. We ate there on Pirate night to allow us more time for other activities that evening. The food was excellent and HOT and the kids were able to bring in stuff from the quick counters around the pool deck. And it is casual dress and on YOUR schedule flexible times. DH was thrilled to have 2 steak choices: a porterhouse or a prime rib VS dining rooms one steak cut offering. Food was great.
*The verandah was so nice but for US, I do not think we would ever do it again. The light and heat were hard to combat (we are hot natured) and we really did not spend too much time out there. Loved the view at Castaway Cay (we were starboard) and dh loved being able to smoke his cigars out there but all in all it was not a MUST if we go again. The kids really loved it too and it was great to experience once.
*Shutters has a photo opps board for each day of the cruise. Check it out if you want a picture with a character in a certain outfit. I have to say I am disgusted with the Shutters staff they were not very helpful! I went in to find out what Daisy was going to wear one night because I wanted a pic w/ her in her light blue sparkly dress. They told me she would be casual so I skipped it and the next day I see the photos of her in that dress w/ cruisers. Not the only problem we experienced w/ the Shutters staff. We brought tuxes to have pics made with Minnie and Mickey in their tux and gown and they wear GOLD outfits on Formal night and Tux/Gown on semi-formal night----arghhhh.
*YES we took too many clothes. I washed laundry twice while onboard and found that we gravitated to the most comfortable clothes, especially after all those large meals. LOL
*My desk fan I brought along was priceless!
*We stayed on the ship at all ports except Grand Cayman (rain) and Castaway Cay and there is plenty to do if you do not book excursions so never fear! You wil have more of the boat to enjoy. We left CC about 1:30 pm and the pools were very empty. We swam and watched Lady and the Tramp on the ariel screen!
*If you want to win the $300 credit at the DVC presentation do not attend the 1st one. It was so packed that they had to bring in more chairs. (Seems that DVC members attend too)
*Play BINGO before the last night then you can buy loyalty cards at the last game. ALL the people that WON when we played had that electronic BINGO box just our observation.
*Snorkeling at CC .to cut costs in half, split the cost of snorkel gear with another family (check your meets board) and set up times that work for each family to use them. My dh and ds snorkeled and after an hour they were done so another family could have used the stuff! The gear just needs to be dropped in bins on your way out. FYI we were told Minnie statue has not been found since the last storm at CC.
*NAP!!!! Activities start early and end late naps are so important for the sanity of your family J There is more down time options in the middle of the day. If you are tired the Walt Disney Theatre is an easy place to involuntarily fall asleep. The shows are GREAT but the rocking, darkness and comfort can really trick you into some zzzzs.
*Over the door shoe organizer! I know you read this everywhere but it really does keep you organized.
*Drop off your autograph books at guest services and forget hauling them around the ship this also speeds up the character lines!
*You will never do it all relax and enjoy .if you miss something do not sweat it.
*Participate in the shows if offered. My dh became a cruise celebrity and he loved it. People asked for his autograph and photo and said hello to him all over the ship! It helps that he wears unique Mickey Ears hat all over the boat too.
*PRIOR to this I hated the idea of staying on deck 1 or 2 BUT really they were quiet and if you hate to feel the motion of the ship it IS much less noticeable to me on lower decks.
*The FE group was great. My kids were SO excited to get back to the room and see what they had received. Join yours.
*We met so many great people from our meets board thread! It was so fun seeing everyone. We had an awesome group wish we could all do it again! We may have to form a group similar to B.O.B. and cruise together when we can. Great folks! J
Detailed:
MNSSHP, Wishes Dessert Party, Boarding Day!
3 Netflix movies and 1 Redbox movie and the kids were out like lights .it was so nice traveling at night while they slept, traffic was light, cooler temps and no construction delays! We arrived in PC on Thursday night about 12 midnight because we attended the MNSSHP on the 18th of Sept. (Friday night) so we arrived in PC on Thursday. MNSSHP was a BLAST and we got in around 4pm .we had time to eat (Cosmic Rays) and we got to ride all the kid rides with very little wait time!! We had been looking forward to getting all of our faces painted (FREE in ToonTown at 7pm) well I knew if we waited too long that there would be a LONG line (thanks to DISers). So we headed towards ToonTown from Dumbo! Got there and there were only 5 people in line so stoked! So we got in line and it did not take us long before we were all painted and on our way again.
Then we did TomorrowLand rides and candy routes including Alices along with the dance party happening in Tomorrow Land between Buzz LY and Space Mtn. (closed still) and headed towards Wishes Dessert Party. I should mention that since we were leaving for the cruise the next day so we decided NOT to do characters at MNSSHP and that did save A LOT of time!! Wishes Dessert Party was great! Definitely worth it! We got a great table where we could see sitting down from our party table. We had a NICE DCL family sitting next to us from CA and we chatted with them which was nice because they got us even more excited about the coming cruise. On a side note: just so you know once we checked in and were lead to our assigned table I was told we could go out and watch the parade and return (they gave us wristbands for the Dessert Party upon checking in) but we did not take advantage of leaving it and returning because we knew we were going to the last parade and we were going to stay as late as we could. We sat on the right side of the viewing deck section C. My family went over to the left side and got to watch the Villain Show from there too. The Hallo-Wishes fireworks were absolutely breathtaking .gorgeous and we really enjoyed having our own spot to view them.
Now take note I am just a good ole southern girl but when I have been waiting for a parade or fireworks show to start for 45 mins. saving my spot and when they begin someone comes and stands in front of me with their kid on their shoulders (you know the ones and if you dont know one then you are that person!) this situation bothers me so crazy I have to say something to them. I am not rude and I do not particularly want a fight but it really irks me that people have NO regard for anyone, there is a least ONE in every crowd! Which brings me to a story, one year we walked up to the area for Wishes viewing early enough to find a spot and everyone was sitting on the ground in front of the castle (it was free dining and I think everyone was just plain too full to stand! Anyway, I sat my rather large behind on the ground and waited like everyone else. Well this lady has the audacity to come and stand directly in front of me with NO regard to anyone behind her. I politely tapped on her leg and said all I can see is your behind and she continued to stand there (and yes she spoke English) so I sternly said I cannot see please find a spot to move to? She was fairly miffed at me and I am so sorry that their mama did not raise them to have respect for others but it ended up that it was not my problem because she did finally move along I know I am rambling but I had to show you there are several in every crowd and this night was no exception. If you wore blue Hawaiian pants or an adult Minnie dress to the MNSSHP on the 18th then the answer is YES you WERE obstructing the view of the people behind you. When you look around and you are the only one standing that should be a hint! To make things worse Mama Minnie decided to dance to the parade music (which I am all for dance until your heart is content - as long as it is not the ME show you are making me watch instead of the function that Disney is putting on) so trying to see around her was a crap shoot. You could see the disgust for their disregard written all over the crowds faces but somehow it did not phase them??? I just do not get it.
So on with the show my kids had a great view and that is what matters to me!
It was a great night and so WORTH it for our family the Dessert Party was a great energizer for us and we left the park when the HP was over and headed back to our port hotel! After getting our exhausted kids back to the Residence Inn we took them up and bathed them and got them into their beds then packed what we could and laid out our stuff for the next day.
We were SO impressed with the Residence Inn at the port. Clean and friendly staff with a great breakfast buffet. And kids loved it too because we all had space to ourselves, not to mention that ds 7 year old got his own king size bed like ours. I highly recommend them.
Pool at Residence Inn
We ended up parking at the port because we decided at the last minute to try to upgrade at the port. So we drove our van and parked there (yes, bye bye $105 we were supposed to save on parking) but we talked and it will save us time when we return too so we parked at the port.
When we got to the port around 10 am we arrived to the Disney lot and there was a long line of folks waiting to go into the right lane of the DCL parking area. Then a Radisson bus pulled in and took the left lane so I watched to see where it lead and they went to baggage drop off area. SO I told dh to take us to baggage drop off and then go park. So the kids and I got out and made our way up to the terminal. My kids were really excited and I was really focused on getting what I needed done in port so this was not a good combo. My ds had 4013 questions and my brain will not even work! Can you say overload?
I AM TYPING THIS IN ALL CAPS IN ORDER TO HELP ANYONE LIKE ME OUT THERE. I DID NOT BRING MY PURSE ON THE CRUISE dh had everything in his money clip money, my DL and the credit card. I had made a folder prior to leaving home that contained all our passports and documents I would need for check in so I did not really think I would need money - NOT. Be sure you have a way to PAY FOR THE UPGRADE AT THE PORT with you if you choose to take the offer. You have to pay for it right then and dh was no where to be found. The CM said you will have to step out of line and if someone else wants this upgrade, I will have to give the cabin to them. Well the very next person wanted a CAT 6 too and I was crushed until I heard the CM give her a different room number than I was offered got on the phone with dh and treated him like all this was somehow his fault. Where are you you are screwing this up for everyone!!!
But he, like usual, quickly came to my rescue and we got a CAT 6, cabin 6614 and it was great.We met tons of our DIS friends in the port and it was so fun. Upon meeting some of them I realized I had left my FE paperwork with copies of the FE delivery map we made for our group. DH went out to grab it and realized that we had also left one suitcase that held all of our shoes in our van. See what I get for rushing dh! Whew!
We got boarding pass 4 and it took us no time to board the ship. We headed straight to Rockin D for Palo Brunch ressies and to change Palo Dinner ressie b/c it did not work with our PLAAPLA dinner rotation. We also saw Gretchen and she kindly told us to request Anne Marie as our server in Palo and we did. Boy is she good at her job more to come about this! Then we headed to guest services for Tea w/ Alice tickets, Galley Tour tickets and info on the Art of Entertaining. We were set. So up to Topsiders for lunch and then off to the pool.
PLAAPLA was our rotation. We had: Palo Brunch Sunday at 10:30 am, Palo Dinner Thursday at 7:30 pm and Alice Tea on Monday at 3:30 pm. We cancelled our galley tour maybe next time.
The kids loved the Mickey pool and slide and enjoyed it for awhile and this is where I notice some tension amongst the guests .
Up next the Splash Zone fury! CAT 6 folks and a MUSTARD drill.
more pics soon...still uploading!
Thanks for reading I do have more in to come!
Courtney had a lot of fun playing with Katie too.
sorry. I will try to get to it this week sometime. We had company this weekend and dh is off to WSP in concert tonight again so I have been swamped getting back to normal life since the cruise. I am feeding my kids and getting their bags packed for school tomorrow. I am so not looking forward to getting back to my work schedule but am thanksful for the opportunity to make a living. I will miss the time with my kids 
and will be so sad when I do not get home until late evening to see them 
I will work most weekends again too. 
