Ursula's but, disney dream and the giant yoyo. AOA,Dream and POP, 1/10/15-1/19/15

C

cheapster316

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 24, 2014
Trip review 1/10-1/19 AOA, Disney Dream and POP
No pictures
A little background:
I had booked this trip in February. We wanted to try a Disney cruise so we picked a 4 night Dream out of Port Canaveral. We cruised about 10 years ago, every other year before kids and had been on Royal Caribbean, Princess and Carnival. We had looked into a cruise to nowhere out of NYC a few years ago and it was more than what we ended up paying for the 4 day. We did 2 nights in little Mermaid at AOA, 4 nights Disney Dream and 4 nights preferred 60’s at POP.
The trip included me, DD 8, DS 5 turns 6 this week and DH. BIL and his friend did the same vacation but we booked through different TA’s. I had used the same Disney specialist from before and loved her. He used one through his union at work who was not a Disney specialist and often gave him wrong information. I highly recommend using a Disney specialist.
Costs:
AOA with dining plan (1 quick serve, 1 snack and 1 table service) and memory maker was $753.10 for 2 nights
Disney Dream category 8D with large porthole room was $2664.76
POP with dining plan (same plan as above), 3 nights in a preferred room was $957.32
Trip was paid in full with Disney gift cards bought at Target with at least 5% discount using red card. I also purchased $1200 worth black Friday at 10% off and would save my Target gift cards ($5 when you buy 4 tooth pastes type deals and buy Disney gift cards with them). I think the initial deposit I used the Disney Visa.
I also budgeted my cruise tips with gift cards, BBB, stroller rental, dining plan tips with target purchased Disney gift cards and saved $50 in singles for room service, luggage etc. tips. I made up mouse keeping envelopes a head of time with $5 a day and had all of that budgeted before I went. I also had $200 plus in Disney rewards visa that I used on the cruise and a few gift cards from DMR I had saved.
DH and I both opened Chase Visa Southwest cards separately when they had the 50,000 bonus miles. If you spend $2,000 in the first 3 months you earned 50,000 miles. You still have to pay taxes and I added the early bird check in, so it was $144.80 for 4 round trip tickets plus $100 fee for each card. Well worth it for direct flights from NY to Orlando.
Day 1 Saturday 1/11
We got to the airport almost 2 hours early, the airport recommended 1.5 hours. The line for Southwest was huge and we spend maybe 45 minutes waiting to check luggage in. No time to eat, I grabbed stuff from Starbucks and boarded the plane. Our flight arrived on time at 11:05 and we left on the magic express for AOA at 12:11, bus lane #5 and arrived at 12:38, second stop.
Our room was ready and located next to bil and friend’s room. We were in building 7 Ursula on the 3rd floor overlooking the lake. It was a beautiful view. We had stayed in a Cars suite 2 years ago and with the cruise I could not justify the suite. I was concerned that the walk would be too much, but realistically it was only 2 nights. The walk was about 5 minutes. It was not horrible; however we rarely filled our drink mugs because it was not convenient to walk both ways for a drink. The walk goes through Lion King and we were the first building after LK. I had requested 1st floor, close to transportation and having the room ready above every other preference via online check in. DD is scared to death of Ursula. We would joke with her everytime we walked by the statue that he but was facing the walkway and say, look it is Ursula's but.
The room was clean, loved the details and the shower pressure was awesome. We walked to the food court and had lunch. We got our refillable mugs and bottled drinks. I learned that you got at a quick service a drink (can be bottled), snack and meal. DH and I got create your own burgers (I added fried shrimp, yum), with fries, bottled drinks for the room, full size desserts and the kids split one create your own burger. The food court was chaotic. Lines do not move fast and sometimes your food was cold before you got to the table. I asked a cashier before I ordered the food about the snacks and she told me anything in the bakery case, or bagged snacks counted as well as gelato. Gelato can be gotten after your meal, they stamp your receipt and you have 90 minutes to get it after you eat. DD loved the gelato and got it 3-4 times.
My tip is the lines are on both sides of the cashier, they take turns waiting on each side. If you see someone with a bunch of mugs to activate, go to another line as they take a few minutes to process.
I did have difficulties with finding a beverage dispenser with just water so DD had lemonade. Also there was never enough ice and you have to have your cup exactly right on the dispenser for the chip to read it. Once I spilled the drink and had to wait to refill it because it is timed. It was not long maybe a minute or 2 but frustrating.
AOA uses real plates and utensils which is a nice touch. However they were out of forks and I forget what BIL ordered but you needed a fork. They were often out of straws, utensils and many drinks were not working, as well as they could not keep up on filling the coffee and cream.
We refilled the mugs, went back to the room and changed into bathing suits and put our bottled drinks in the mini fridge (no freezer and no coffee pot in room).I knew from this board that the big blue pool would be closing in the next few days for refurbs but we were not told by AOA, there was a sign when it was closed. We loved this pool. Lots of empty chairs, huge pool and we probably spent 2 hours in the pool. DH was told nicely by the lifeguard that the go pro was not allowed because it was on a stick.
I had a dinner reservation for Rainforest that I had made directly through them for 5:30. I called when we were eating lunch to see if I could push it back to 6:30 so we could enjoy the pool. I did with no problem. We changed and walked back to the bus stop. This time we tried a different path, instead of going through Lion King and the food court we walked around the outer edge of the parking lot to see if it was any quicker. It seemed like the same walk and at least we could look at the statues. A bus came quickly and we were at Downtown Disney by 5:05. We went to the toy store, pin store, another store that I could not name and they were selling things in a sale section 5 for $20. They had Ursula headbands that I wanted for the giant Ursula statue in front of our building. DD is terrified of Ursula, but quickly got used to the big statue. They were marked regularly $20 plus. I asked a worker how much if I only wanted one and she said $4. I was glad I asked.
We checked into rainforest about 6:15 for 6:30 reservation. She told me she would text me when it was our time. 45 minutes go by and DS is hungry. I asked how close we were and she made a noise and said oh, we can take you right now. They directed me to another line where we waited another 10 minutes more and finally texted me that it was our turn. The hostess then took our claim tickets and started seating the back of the line first. They really have a bad system for seating. We were finally seated and had a great waiter, Calvin. He brought the kids food out first and asked if we were on the dining plan. He then recommended the 3 most expensive entrees and said we could order any entrée, any non-alcoholic drink with free refills and a dessert. He quickly brought the kids food out, dino nuggets and bananas for both. DH had the ribs, steak and shrimp combo with French fries and I had the steak and shrimp combo (steak, shrimp scampi and coconut shrimp) with broccoli. The kids had ice cream sandwiches and DH and I were both stuffed, we asked for cheesecake to go (breakfast the next morning) and the waiter offered to combine our credits and get the volcano desert which is around $15, we told him no thanks. Total was $110.23 and I used a prepaid Disney gift card with $25 tip. (I bought $25 gift cards for my table service tips). We met up with bil in the pin shop and took the bus back to AOA. We were back by 8:33 and stopped at the food court to get cinnamon rolls as a snack credit for breakfast the next day. It was then bed time as we had magic kingdom up next.
 
Day 2 1/11/15 Magic Kingdom

Today we had a pre park opening reservation for Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for 8:45. I was a little worried because it was marathon weekend and I had read the traffic gets bad but if you stick to the buses, you should be ok. We ate breakfast in the room and were at the bus stop at 7:38. A bus pulled up at 7:42 and we were directed to take the epcot bus and monorail it to MK. The driver assured everyone that with the marathon traffic ADR’s and fast passes would be honored if we were late. We were off the bus at 8:11 and on the monorail by 8:16. We were let in the separate entrance for early reservations with no problem. Bil and friend were allowed in with us even though they were not on our reservation.
It was great, there were so few people on Main Street, DH praised me for all my research and we stopped at several photo pass photographers along the way. We were even able to get pictures under the Christmas tree as the decorations were still up. We were seated immediately at BBB. DD got the courtyard package; she had no interest in the t shirt or tutu as she did it last time but did not care for any other styles. They gave me a bag with the outfit and I will regift it to my nieces. She wore her Anna dress into BBB. I got this at the Disney store at JC Penny for $35 and she loves it. DS did the knight package. I asked that they do not do the painted mickey head on the back of his head and she stated that they no longer did that. They were seated next to each other, photo pass took several pictures and in a few minutes DS was done. Since our trip was a surprise, I booked them both for the package and had low expectations for DS. He liked it last time but I knew at almost 6 it would be a tossup. I booked it though in case he wanted to do it because I knew I would not be able to add it later. When we told them about the trip he said he wanted to go so I left it. Truthfully it was so quick and such little effort was put into it by the FGIT I was slightly disappointed. They did not spike his hair; she just dumped confetti and glitter, put the mask and gave him the sword and shield. There was no solemn oath to not stab his sister like last time and DH went to the bathroom came back and DS was done. It was less than $20 so I’m not complaining but really she could have cared less about working on him. The sword and sheild were worth the price. DH then took DS on Peter Pan and came back to see DD’s reveal. She was thrilled and so was I. I can’t find the receipt but I think hers was $95. I gave both a cash tip. I checked out before the reveal and we were off for the photo session. We were the only ones there and they spent a lot of time with the kids. I got some great pictures and they even posed the 4 of us. They gave me a photo pass card in case the pictures did not show up. They did but none of BBB did. I emailed them yesterday and within hours I had them.
We then walked on Peter Pan. The CM remembered DS and we were off to London. DS loves Peter Pan and was Hook for Halloween. He ended up dressing up on the cruise for pirate night as Hook and begged DH to be Smee but he refused. Small world was walk on so off everyone went but me. I really detest small world and will use any excuse I can to avoid it. I went to get the stroller from park rentals. I debated about renting a stroller but figured the kids would get tired and I wanted a place to store stuff. DH refused to deal with folding up a double on the park busses so renting from the parks seemed like the best option. I was worried a double would be too much to push so I rented a single and figured they could take turns. I paid $51.98 for a 4 day rental. They gave me tickets that they would stamp each day and I would just present it at stroller rental. If I left the park, I would return it and get another one when I came back. Initially No one wanted to use it but by the end of the trip they were fighting over it.
 
We then did Pooh and Dumbo before heading over to BOG for our 10:50 reservation. When you stay onsite you are supposed to get an email invite 27days before for BOG FP that does not count in your 3. I did not get it but read how you can go in and enter your reservation number. MY reservation number would not work but my memory maker number did. I made the reservation for the 4 of us and it would not let me add BIL and friend. He ended up calling his TA to get the reservation number so he could make it even though his TA knew nothing about it. They had a 10:20 check in time so we waited until we overlapped and checked in together. We had to go to separate kiosks. He ordered ahead of time and they lost it so he needed to reorder. We ordered for the first time. DH got the Croque Monsieur, which is a grilled ham and cheese with fries; I got the carved turkey sandwich with fries, yummy but too much onions and green stuff which I picked off. DD got the grilled cheese and the cm asked if she wanted tomato soup or fries or apple sauce. She chose apple sauce; DS got the Kids turkey with fries and a cookie. The food is delivered to you in an impressive serving cart and drinks are self-serve. You also need to get your own silverware which was difficult to find. For dessert we both got the grey stuff cupcake which DS and DD loved. It was a nice relaxing lunch. We wanted the ballroom which was closed but opened while we were there. We avoided the west wing because last time dd was scared by the darkness and the Beast's clawed picture. The restaurant was very dark. Also when the cm brought the grilled cheese she brought tomato soup. I nicely told her we were supposed to have applesauce (or apples, I can’t remember which), she barked at me it only comes with tomato soup. I nicely told her the cm who took the order asked if we wanted apple sauce and she scowled and said it did not come with it. Oh well bil ate the soup.
After lunch we did the Ariel ride. When we came out it was raining. We ducked under an umbrella where the cms usually stand that was empty. We waited about 10 minutes for the rain to let up and a cm comes over and says you can’t stand here and ushered us away. She was not very pleasant and literally no one was under there. We went into the Ariel Meet and greet and DH was like wow she was kind of snippy. I agreed, she could have been nicer, it was not that we could not stand there but how she told us and shooed us away. Ariel was sweet and bubbly and we got some great photo pass shots. We then went to the big top store to wait out the rain. DD was furious that her hair would get ruined before her Anna and Elsa meet and greet and mad when I put a raincoat and her brother’s Olaf baseball hat on to protect her dress. We got a great picture of her not happy face. The rain let up and off we went to Dumbo and barnstormer before our A&E meet and greet.
I was up at midnight at our 60 day mark to try and get A&E fp with no luck. I eventually got 4 at overlapping times for 8:00 at night. I stalked the app multiple times a day and finally got 4 around noon time. Bil was able to get the same time as well. We went to the meet and greet and standby was at 90 minutes. We walked right in. DS loves Hans, who knows why but he really does. I had an embroidered shirt made for him and warned him that he may not like the comments he gets. Elsa commented something but stayed true to her ice queen character. While waiting for Anna, she spotted the shirt. She yelled out Hans was here and ran and hid behind the curtain. She was awesome. She asked if he was from the southern isles and made him pinky promise he would not be like Hans and would be good. It was great. DD then got her picture with her matching Anna dress and we walked out basking in the Disney magic.
We ended up in the store where DD bought Anna and Elsa ears. We headed over to the sword in the stone show. DS did not raise his hand to get picked and afterward got very frustrated that he could not pull the sword out when he tried. The kids did Barnstormer again and we waited for Mine Train. I was worried I would not fit as I had read a big thread on Pooh sized and the small cars. I did not need to worry, I had plenty of room. The ride went fast and it was great. It was definitely the kid’s favorite and standby was maybe 120 minutes. I liked it but would never wait that long. The ride video for memory maker is so cute and the kids have watched it over and over. I get Hi Ho stuck in my mind.
We headed over to Fronteirland for the parade. It was about 2:15. DH got a spot with the kids and I headed off for dole whips. A few minutes before 3:00, DH called me and said the bands were coming through and was worried they would close it off so I could not get back. I left line with 3 people ahead of me and got back in time, I ran over and got frozen Olaf bars for snack and watched the parade. DS got so excited on the Magic Express watching the video that the dragon breathes fire that I could not wait to see his expression. It was priceless and he loved it. Afterwards we went to Hall of presidents while DS went on Haunted Mansion with BIL as DD is scared of it. I thought it would be boring but it was actually interesting and nice to sit in the air-conditioning. DD loved it and we were glad we tried something new. We then headed out to Chef Mickey’s for dinner.
 
MK day 1 continued
Next up was Chef Mickeys. We had reluctantly booked dinner at Bil’s request. DH kept asking me to explain why we are leaving the park to go here. I initially suggested we walk over but everyone was tired and we took the monorail, BIL and friend walked over. It was a short ride and we were there in no time. Everyone was tired and hanging on a bench outside the elevator. I checked in early. The CM directed us to a nice seated area by Chef Mickeys. Within minutes the cm approached me and asked if we would like to be the family of the day. I excitedly said, yes. DD asked what that meant; I was like I have no idea but it sounds fun. They asked the kids name, where we were from and after we took our picture by the plate we were brought over by the roped area and red carpet. We were allowed behind the rope and the kids stood on the other side. They explained that the kids would get to open the restaurant and chef mickey would bring them to the table.
Sure enough a CM announced the kids by name and said we traveled from NY. They hit the rope and Mickey escorted them to the first booth which had special placemats (we got to keep) and Mickey had the kids sign an autograph for him. Extremely nice touch and they loved it. A photo pass photographer took pictures (which did not show up initially but I emailed this morning and they found them). We then got to be first to eat. I was skeptical because chef mickey’s gets some bad reviews however I loved the food. The mashed potatoes were so good, DD loved the carved beef and DH and DS loved the chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. I can’t remember all the different things but they also had lots of choices for deserts. The characters came around at least once, I never felt rushed and actually was anxious to leave and was waiting for the check. DD loved how soft Donald was and decided Goofy was her new favorite character. We took the monorail back and DH said he was really glad we tried it and it was a nice break from the park.
We went to Buzz for our fast pass and DD wanted to do the laugh floor. She had been driving me nuts all day to do it but we scheduled it around our buzz fast pass. DH was “that guy” and DD was so thrilled. It really is one of her favorite things and afterwards they gave DH a sticker saying that guy. Someone in line afterwards called him famous and DD beamed. We finished up with the people mover and got on the bus at 8:36; AOA was the furthest walk to a bus stop and were back at 8:51.
I stopped at the front desk and requested a late check-out as we had the cruise paperwork dropped off while at MK. Luggage pick up was at 8:00 am and the shuttle would be picking us up at 12:30. The front desk graciously extended our check out time to noon and we filled our cups and DD got some more gelato. We packed and went to bed with the promise of swimming in the am and some statue pictures at cars.
 


Day 3 1/12 Monday
We had our luggage ready for 8:00 pickup, they came maybe around 8:30, I tipped them $10 for 4 bags. We ate at the food court again and used up the rest of our credits. I got the steak and egg sandwich was a burger with egg and bacon, it came with a rise either fries or hash brown casserole. I got the hash brown thinking DD would like it . It was cold and gross. DH got fries with his. The kids split a platter that had chocolate chip pancakes, fresh fruit (it was so yummy) and 2 sausage links which were iced cold. We had some OJ, we used 1 quick serve credit and the difference was $15.96. we then went to Little mermaid pool as big blue was closed. The pool opened at 10:00. We used the life jackets at the pool. I think the pool was 4-5 ft in the middle. DD did not want to go in the end by Ursula. There were lots of chairs and quite a few people in the pool. I then headed into the building by the pool that had laundry. Disney really pushes the magic bands for every thing and it is quite convenient. Imagine my surprise that the laundry does not take magic bands, so it was off to the room for money. They do have a change machine. Laundry is $2.00 a load for both the washer and dryer. I brought tide pods from home but think detergent was $1.00. I dried the wet bathing suits and shoes. Future note to self, if you put crocs in the dryer they will shrink, not good and flip flops are $16.95 and crocs are $39.99 on the dream so we bought flip flops, well at least they are Mickey ones. we took our carry ons and headed out for pictures with the statues. I ran back and got the laundry while they did Cars. We got some lunch, the power pack was cool, it came with a juice box, carrots a nasty dry mini cereal bar, goldfish and yogurt. Perfect for the ride for the kids. While we waited in the lobby we split a burger and fries with a bottle of water for the ride. DD had more gelato and we used up the last quick serve. .We checked into the cruise line with the rep in the lobby for 12:30 and loaded the bus at 12:45. We kept our carry ons with us but had the option of stowing them underneath and had to show Identification when checking in with the bus. We boarded the bus at 12:47, got to sit under the Donald sticker and arrived at the port at 1:49. We went through a medical detector and were on our way to check in with the cruise line.
I had done on line check in , so we had to show birth certificates for everyone as a passport was not needed for the Bahamas and Castaway Cay. They took our picture for IDS ( a group one) After checking in we were told to go up to lunch at Cabanas as they were only serving until 2:30 or 3:00, I can't remember which. We stopped and signed the kids up for the club. . They were given blue bands that looked like a magic band. We were charged $12.95 for each band immediately but would be credited back when you turn them in. We then did a welcome aboard picture in our matching shirts. We walked aboard the dream and were announced while cams clubbed, it was so exciting.
We headed up to the room to drop off our carryons and fell in love with the room. It was much bigger than I had imagined. The kids loved the huge porthole that they could sit in. DS could not wait to play in it with his wrestlers and new big hero 6 figures he bought. The couch converted into a bed and we had a murphy bed that folded down from the wall. I loved the split bathroom and the kids loved the Mickey cartoons. We headed up to Cabanas which was a zoo, had lunch and went back to the room to figure out where to go for the muster drill. I eventually figured out to check the back of the room door for instructions. Being that we boarded so late and had such little time to read the navigator, it would have been helpful when checking in if they told us follow the instructions on the back of the door to find your muster station. We were lucky, we were assigned to the theater for our drill. Bill was assigned outside in the rain, while we got to sit in the air conditioned theatre. After the drill, we went back to the room, started to figure out the app, put our phones on airplane mode, called home and got ready to sail away, The sail away party was moved inside due to the rain and we skipped it. I saw in the navigator that you could get Anna and Elsa tickets at shore excursions before 3:00, oops missed that. I wanted to head down to guest services. I had 2 pillow cases embroidered with the kids names that I wanted to have signed and I wanted to pay $200 in gift cards towards the tips. We did that and went to check out the kids clubs. I stopped at shore excursions and got tickets for Anna & Elsa for the Nassau day, not a problem, I had no plans to get off the ship and princess meet on the sea day.
We went to the kids club which was open house time. Here you are allowed in with the kids during open house, you can take pictures, meet the staff etc. When it is not open house you are not allowed inside. The kids liked it and we would be back. You need to designate a secret word that you have to give when you pick up, they check your keys to the world card for your picture and the kids pictures. They also can pull up on the screen exactly where the kids are and day so and so is in Andy's room. They also had to wash their hands in this really cool automatic washer every time they entered the club. We went back to the room to get ready for dinner.
I had packed outfits for dinner each day but the first day was so rushed that we did not bother to change for dinner. I set up the transfers through my TA with Disney for the convenience. It was $70 PP round trip. She also offered me a car service for around the same price plus 20% tip and they would make a 15-minute grocery stop each way. I wish now I had done so. We did not get to the ship until almost 2:00 and sailed away at 4:00. It was not so much the time on the ship we lost but more getting acquainted before we had to muster.
On your KTTW card it tells you your dining rotation. There are 3 main dining rooms and you do each menu once. If you do a 4-night cruise then you repeat one of the dining rooms on pirate night but have a pirate menu. Your wait staff goes with you to each restaurant. We had royal palace first and while it was not my favorite restaurant, I enjoyed the menu the best.
About the food. It was ok, some things were really good, most was ok. There was not much variety and being at Disney before and after I felt like we had the same things over and over.
Our waiter was Arlan from the Philippines and Carlos from Columbia was the assistant. Arlan took our orders, brought our food but had little interaction with us, Carlos was much more outgoing and did a card trick one night for the kids. Arlan did go out of his way to give the kids attention and brought their food fast. There was no cutting up the meat, remembering what they liked or extras I had read about.
We had Potato leek soup and fried Brie for appetizers and sirloin for dinner. DH asked for no sauce and a baked potato and was accommodated. Kids had cheeseburgers, fries and mickey bars. BIL was undecided about the lobster mac and cheese or the sirloin. I asked for an extra mac and cheese that we could share. He brought us a full portion. It was disgusting; it had some overbearing truffle oil that neither of us liked. We had some kind of oil dipping with olives and the bread service and that was yummy. Dessert was here and they had my 2 favorites, crème brulle and grand mariner soufflé, I got both. DD tried my soufflé and loved it; Arlan brought her one out as well when I asked. He told us our breakfast options for the next day. We took some posed photos with Captain Mickey and other characters and off to bed we went.
I ended up purchasing the unlimited CD photo package for $229. We took 181 pictures and I loved it. We got lots of family portraits and pictures with characters. I looked into it before I left and could find very little info, it was $199 if you purchased in advance. Also if BIL was in any of our pictures, we got it but if he was by himself or with his friend, it was not on our CD because he is in a different room. They use facial recognition software and the only pictures we did not find were the aqua duck. We asked but if you are not directly looking at the camera and are soaking wet it is hard for them to find you. Shutters was always busy and they have kiosks where you can look at your photos on the kiosk. They also print some of your pictures and assign you a location like mickey 49, you find that bookcase and number 49 and there is a book with your pictures printed. This is nice that you do not have to look allover for your pictures. Bil bought 1 picture, it was $19.99 and 8x10, he wanted the 6x8 but you cannot choose the size so he is stuck with 8x10 of him and Chip and Dale.
 
1/13 Tuesday Nassau Day
We have been to Nassau before and are not fans so we decided to enjoy a day on the ship. Bil and friend went to Nassau and afterwards regretted it. Some lady slapped bracelets on them without being asked and wanted money for the children. Bil’s friend got his wallet out to pay and she reached in and took a $20. Bil told her no and she started to make a scene, she snatched the bracelets back and they gave her no money. They walked around a bit but only bought a $5 shirt and some rum.
We went up to Cabanas. I loved the breakfast buffet especially the Mickey waffles with strawberries on top. There was something for everyone.
We did the aqua duck twice, first time 10 minute wait, second 20 minutes. The line moves quickly and is mostly in the shade. Your feet get hot on the stairs while waiting. They measure the kids and give them wristbands that they are tall enough and if they need a parent. Rafts fit 2 people and have handles. You go very fast and get soaked. They take your picture and you get soaked. We also did it later that night as well. It looks so cool lit up but is a little scary in the dark parts. The kids did the Mickey slide (ages 4-11 or 14, I can’t remember). They tried the nemo splash pad but were really too big for it. We used the Donald pool which is for families. The kids wore life jackets provided by the ship and we watched emperor’s new groove on the funnel vision in the pool. I think the pool was 5 feet deep. There were tons of chairs right by the pools. They also have cms handing out towels and lots of bins to put them in when you are done.
For lunch we had cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, fruit salad, chicken mango salad, Greek wraps and tomato mozzarella Panini. The kids had ice cream every day and today it was strawberry banana. DH would get a soda from the self serve machines and add ice cream to make floats. We also designated the ice cream place as a meet up spot for when we would meet with BIL.
We had tickets for Anna and Elsa meet and greet at Animators Palcae. You had to show the tickets twice to get in line. They had frozen backdrops on the screens and it was really cool. DS wanted to wear his Hans shirt again and DD wore her Elsa dress. We had DS tell them Hans sent him from the southern isles. They played along with him and asked if he was one of Hans 13 brothers. They told him he looked nice and made him pinky promise he would be good. It was so cute.
We went to the messy science show at the kids club, where it was open house, so we could attend as well. We made flubber with a green haired scientist who had the kids highly entertained. We left the kids in the secure part of the kids club and they ended up meeting, Tianna, Stitch and crush. We ended up getting room service, all hands on deck cheese platter and some giant chocolate chip cookies. The cheese platter was good; it had grapes, cheese and crackers. The cookies were dry and over baked. When we ordered it again another time, it was different crackers. We cash tipped room service, usually $1 per item ordered, it was told 35 minutes but was usually around 10.
That night was semi-formal night; we had lots of portraits taken. We saw Villains tonight and even DD who is scared of Ursula loved it. She is still singing Villains tonight in the shower. I loved the shows, the quality was superb, they were family friendly with a few adult jokes to keep you interested and we usually got to the theater 30 minutes early to get a seat. The only time the whole cruise I felt pressured to buy drinks was the theatre. I think a beer was $5.90, a smoothie in an Olaf cup was $7 and popcorn was $3.50.

After the show we did more pictures, Tianna, Snow White, formal Minnie Mouse. Chip and Dale dressed up looked great but way too long of a line. We would usually get to the character line 10 minutes before it opened and the lines would move quick.
Dinner I have no notes on. We were in Animators Palace; I had some type of beef. DS tried fish nuggets and did not like it, I tried them they were good. DD had an adult roasted chicken that she liked and DH had a plain steak and potatoes. My beef was supposed to come with potatoes and did not, so I had beef with like 2 veggies, I was mad but did not speak up. Dessert I got the make your own pie and I did not like it. Crush appeared briefly but we were a middle table and he did not talk to us. This restaurant was gorgeous; the colors changed and overall were nicely themed.
After dinner we did the aqua duck twice, swam in the mickey pool, We headed into the hot tub which was not hot at all and ended the night with vanilla and chocolate ice cream.
 
Wednesday castaway cay
we docked early. DS had a stomach bug and DH was catching it. DH stayed back and slept in and I took the kids to cc. BiL called me many times from cc while I was on the ship and the wave phones definitely work from the island to the ship. After another breakfast buffet at cabanas we were off to the island.
We stopped at the post office which was not yet opened. We took a photo pass with Olaf statue and boy was it hot. We then waited and did chip and dale in their bathing suits which were very cute. After 1 more photo pass in front of the mickey hanging off the dream we were off to the tram. BiL told me to take it to the third stop and he would meet me. We waited for the tram in the shade and just as we boarded 2 pushy ladies pushed in front of me and the kids to get on. Umm hello the kids need to sit with me. I smushed them in and sat on the end as the announcer said to not put small children on the end.
The island was beautiful. So clean and perfect looking. We met BiL and went to the beach next to pelican plunge. Pelican plunge looked cool for older kids. Mine were worried that it would be too deep.
There were plenty of umbrellas
and empty chairs. Did I mention they were free? We pulled 2 small chairs and sat right in the water. The water was chilly but quickly warmed up. The kids enjoyed it and photo pass photographers took their picture in the water.
We walked over to the bar, DS was thirsty and I bought a bottle of water (Evian) for $1.95 and a konk cooler for $5.95. All I can say is yummy. There is nothing like a frozen drink on a hot beach. Paradise!
We then went to cookies for lunch. Again it was free. Lots of fountain drinks, ice cream machines and a huge buffet. We had BBQ chicken, burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, ribs (I think); corn on the cob, cous cous, salads, and fruit bagged chips, lays plain and BBQ. Desserts included pineapple upside down cake cookies and ice cream. If you left hungry it was your own fault.
We then went back to the beach. We saw bike rentals and the gift shops as well as several stores. They sold pins, flip flops, towels, sun screen, bottled water and beach pails. I did not see any characters except by the post office but it was posted in the navigator where you can meet them. We later learned about 100 people live on the island.
We took the tram back and just before boarding they had big jugs of water flavored with fruit and cups for free. They told you when you got off the ship you needed your kttw card and license but never asked for anything other than kttw.
After showering we hung out and got room service. I had a BLT with chips; kids had all hands on deck platter with s different type of crackers. Dd had cheese pizza, DH a cheese steak minus the onions and peppers and we got a bunch of chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies that no
one really liked.
We then got ready for pirate night.
 


We got ready for pirate night in full costume. DS was Captain Hook for Halloween and I brought his costume. DS had mickey pirate ears from our last trip and a pirate outfit I got at target for 75 percent off. I wore a peasant blouse, gypsy like skirt and just got accessories such as a big metal belt, clunky necklace and bracelets and huge hoop earrings. I got a mickey pirate hat at a consignment sale and DH wore a pirate top costume I got at Walmart after Halloween along with his mickey bandana. BiL bought a full irate costume but was afraid to meet us in the atrium dressed up so he met us in our room.
We got lots of looks on our way to the atrium. We were the only ones dressed up and BiL was worried we would be the only one. I stopped at guest services to pay on my account at guest services. They had a cute display with stuffed animals and gold coins. We then got pictures with pirate Daisy, Peter pan, Hook and chip n dale. DS asked Peter pan, hey pan do you want to fight? Hook seemed to get a kick out of mini hook and played a Simon says like game with DS and we have some great pictures. Little by little more people were dressed as pirates and some outfits were elaborate.
We attended the pirate show with mickey before dinner which was cute and fun.
As we walked into dinner at animator’s palate the wait staff were making argh noises and really interacting with us.
DS had to go to the bathroom; I ran him back midship and did not realize there was a closer bathroom.
DH ordered for me and I was unimpressed with pirate night. My steak had no potato. I was annoyed and exhausted but did not ask for a potato. I complained to DH all I wanted was a potato. I reluctantly went to the pirate show. I was so tired and my feet hurt but did not want to miss the fireworks so up we went. It was packed and many areas were roped off. We watched from deck 12.
The show was awesome. Capt. Jack came down on a wire and pirates took over the ship. They put on a good show and then fireworks. Wow, I thought it would be a few fireworks but it was a full show. Afterwards we danced away to the dj. We headed back to the room for bed.
 
Thursday 1/15 Sea Day
Today we decided to take it easy. We strolled up to breakfast at Cabanas and then had tickets for the meet and greet with the princesses. Unlike the Frozen one, this was in the atrium and was roped off so you could not meet the princesses unless you had a ticket. I was happy we had a ticket but felt bad for the kids turned away. At least in the restaurant you would not know it was happening but in the atrium they were out for everyone to see. We met Belle, Snow White, Tianna and Rapunzel. We did lots of photo pass pictures and I had to jump in the snow white one because I was her shirt! I also had asked at guest services if they had any extra for the Disney junior meet and greet. They did not. I felt bad for DS because they were so girlie and figured he would like to see Jake, who we never saw on the ship.
We headed up to the Aqua Duck and did it twice before the line got long. This time we had an energetic cm who would yell, what time is it and you would yell, Aqua Duck time. It was fun. We went over to the Donald Pool and watched Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp. They closed the pool for a few minutes and said they had to do a drill. It looked like they may have tested the PH of the water. The new life guard was a lot stricter and would tell the kids, no jumping or splashing. Now I do not like getting splashed however, how do you tell kids in a pool not to splash. One kid asked her how are we supposed to swim then and she told them, doggie paddle. The kids did the aqua duck again; I had a turkey sandwich from the quick serve on deck. We then headed back to the room for room service.
The kids were obsessed with the mid ship detective agency game. This is a game where the kids solve a mystery by going around to certain paintings all over the ship for clues. They sign in at the detective agency, deck 5 just outside the kids club and are given a card. They pick which mystery they want to do, missing puppies or stolen paintings and go all over the ship, scanning the card to get clues. We had played this earlier and they were obsessed with when can we play again. The paintings are located on most decks and some are forward, some midship and some back. They are never easily together so if you are on deck 8 front of the ship, deck 9 will be the back. You do lots of walking and while it is fun by the end of the trip, I did not want to walk all over the ship. So I would do all the front ones, then the back then the middle. Kids were always playing and it was a fun way to see the ship. The mystery is different each time but our missing puppy’s case seemed very similar to the first and I was worried it would be the same villain but it was not. It takes about an hour to play and this time they each had their own mystery so we did 2 at once.
The kids went to the kids club where snow white came in and did a craft. DH and I headed to the rainforest room. I had bought 2 passes prior to sailing for $14 each. I also purchased the romance package which was 2 robes, a rose, chocolates and a bottle of champagne ($125) and a 6 pack of Dasani delivered to the room for $9.00 from Disney. All cruise I kept saying we need to try the rainforest room. We finally got the kids to the club and headed up to the spa. There was a card in the room when we got on the cruise saying to present this at the spa for 2 rainforest passes. DH and I wore our robes over our bathing suits and headed to the spa. Once there they gave us green wrist bands and brought us back to the rainforest room. They had robes you could use (waffle type) ours that we got to keep from the romance package were plusher. They had several rain showers without doors. You walk in, press a button and there were different settings. One had a waterfall that was very cool but I liked Siberia the best, They also had chilled water in a big dispenser and cups. We then went out to use the hot tubs. They had 2 hot tubs that overlooked the water and they were much hotter than the ones on deck. We relaxed in the hot tubs for awhile and then made our way over to the heated chairs. Ohh, how I loved the chairs. It was like lying on a huge heating pad, my tired body felt so much better. They had little lights above the chairs and most people were reading from their kindles. It was very quiet and super relaxing. I wish I had brought my shampoo with me so when I showered I could have washed my hair as well. I thought to ask if they had any samples but would have had to go back out to the spa and I was just being lazy.
We went back to the room, packed everything and got ready for dinner. The luggage needed to be put outside your room between 8:30-10:30 if you wanted the luggage to go through customs. They gave you color coded character tags so you could find your luggage the next day, ours were purple Minnie mouse. We remembered to leave clothes out for bed and the next morning along with basic toiletries. The luggage did not get picked up until after 11:00. The hallways were very tight with the luggage and I felt bad for wheelchairs and scooter people. I also did another load of laundry but dried the bathing suits so they would not be wet in the luggage. We did some more pictures in the lobby and headed off to see Believe.
Tonight’s show we had popcorn and drinks. DH had a bud light with lime and I had a Coors light. Drinks were about $6 and popcorn was $3.50. Out of all the shows I liked villains tonight the best but believe had me crying. The kids loved all the shows and the only one we skipped was the comedian.
After believe we did more pictures and got to dinner really early. There is no reason to go to dinner early. We usually walked in right at 8:15 and would be seated right away. We had a table for 6 and were lucky to be seated by ourselves. There was a table for 8 next to us who appeared to be together and a table for 6 that had 1 couple at it. Getting to dinner early just made the kids anxious, “I’m hungry, how much longer.” Every day you could pull up the menus on the navigator App, the menus were all out at guest services and hanging at each restaurant. Our last night was enchanted garden which was very pretty. I have no notes saved but had some type of beef and twice baked potatoes which made up for the night of no potatoes. Dessert was ok but DD got the sugar free mousse and loved it. She asked for a second one and DS had some of hers and really liked it. The head server came around, really looking for her tip. I know most of what they do is behind the scenes but it was awkward. She had stopped by the first night and told us if there was anything extra we needed to let her know. She then came back the last night and made idle chit chat but it was awkward. I handed her the tip envelope, she thanked us and left.
Tipping is I think $14 per person per day. So a family of 4 was $192.00. I had brought $200 in gift cards to pay on the tips and easily added them at guest services. They automatically bill you the suggested amount and the second to last night they deliver envelopes and a paper with the servers name and preprinted tip amount. You can add more or take the tips off. I think the tips were well deserved and with the exception of the head waiter, the servers really provided great service. I also tipped room service $1 per food item (cash) and the porter at the dock ($15 for 4 bags). Magic express I was given $2 a bag as they got our bags out from under the bus.

We never drank our champagne, the first day it was on ice and the steward never refilled the ice. The 3rd day I threw it in the refrigerator. I brought it to dinner and asked the assistant waiter to serve it with oj and we had mimosas.
After dinner, we walked around the shuffle board court, which was DH’s favorite spot to relax. It was really windy so we headed up to the room, through our dinner clothes in the suitcases in the hall as they had not taken them and went to bed.
 
1/16 Friday Disembarkation Day
We were told that night at dinner that we could have a sit down breakfast at 8:15 with our wait staff the next morning. I thanked them and said good bye and said we would do Cabanas. We packed up our carryon’s and had dug the coats and sweatshirts out of the luggage the night before as we heard it was going to be cold in the morning in Florida.
We went to shutters to pick up our CD with all of our pictures on it. We were told the night before they put them out at 6:30 am and you cannot get them until that morning. They were on a table where Mickey usually met for pictures. It was $229 and worth every penny, it was $199 if you bought before the cruise. We had 181 pictures. After our final buffet breakfast ( bye bye mickey waffles,), we disembarked. We found our luggage easily and a porter loaded it up on her hand truck. We went to find the Disney bus and watched the Disney cms really fight and get nasty with each other over what bus to put us on. The porter told me the one cm is crazy and fights with everyone.
We watched 2 busses pull away before we were loaded on a bus at 8:24 and did not depart until 9:06. We dropped people off at Port Orleans at 10:20 and headed to POP.

Final thoughts on the cruise:
I loved the cruise. I would not book the transfer through Disney again. I felt getting on the ship at 2:00 was too late to be ready to sail at 4:00. I did not rebook on board but probably should have. I would like to go again 2017, probably another 4 night dream cruise. The kids seemed to like the kids club but were reluctant to go. Once there they had a great time but I had to tell them they were going instead of giving them the option. I really liked having second seating dinner and doing the shows first. It was late to eat but we did room service or a quick serve to hold us over and we were not rushing to dinner. The kids menu was limited and my kids are picky, DD seemed to enjoy the adult menu more and I think if you talk to the servers they will be happy to assist you in finding options that the kids may like.
I was so excited to watch first run movies onboard. I called and got the list before we left. We never saw one. I thought they would be scheduled back to back and they were not. One movie might be at 8:00 am and then 4:00 pm. There was always something else going on that the movie times never seemed to work.
The room, I loved. I loved the big porthole and so did the kids, room 6010. They would fight over whose turn it was and I think it was $32 extra than an inside room. I was afraid of a verandah with the kids but who knows next time, I may be more open. The bed was so comfortable and we really had a lot of room. I liked that the Murphy bed folded up for easy storage and loved having the split bathroom, especially with stomach issues.
The kids watched mickey cartoons over and over. They did not want to try any other channels.
The shows were great, the cruise director, Christian, seemed good and we really only saw him at the shows. The kids loved the shows. They were so well done and having characters only made it better for the kids.
I loved the photos done by shutters. Are they all perfect, No but most are great. I found one photographer, Myasha who was very talented. When are you ever going to get a family portrait done? We have them in casual clothes, semi-formal and even dressed as prates.
I was able to do some shopping onboard; I got a Vera Bradley mickey mini cross body bag and 3 Disney park exclusives Pandora beads. I was worried they would be sold out because of being so close to Xmas. Most were sold out but I was happy with 3. The kids were able to get pins, they had lots of merchandise and the first night the lines were long because of the marathon exclusive merchandise. I saw lots of people with medals and shirts and was so proud of them. They also had a photo drop with the castaway cay run.
Castaway cay was gorgeous. I loved it; the kids loved it and were sorry DH missed it. The food was so good and there really was very little trying to upsell. I never felt pressured for drinks like on Carnival, Bingo was available but was not pushed. I wish we had more time to do different things that we missed but again that is why you do a second cruise.
I did not do a fish extender but they looked fun. I had bought at Michaels some photo magnet sheets. I thought they would be self-adhesive but you were supposed to print directly on them. I went through my old scrapbooking supplies and the kids decorated the magnets with Disney stickers and the kids seemed to love having the door decorated. It did help in finding your room by looking at other peoples magnets. I did see they had a couple magnet kits in the gift shop but not sure how much they cost. Some people just made signs and hung them up. It was fun to read and look at everyone’s doors.
Disney lets you bring on bottled drinks and alcohol in your carryon. Next time I am bringing a case of water and some juice boxes. You could get free drinks at cabanas but sometimes you just wanted water at bed time and did not fell like going out.I did refill my mugs from AOA and bring them back to the room but I like water.
 
1/16 Epcot
We got to the hotel and I was excited to see Pop. The bus driver gave us our entire luggage from underneath (we tipped him too) and we trekked through the lobby with the kids and the bags. I had read a lot of reviews where people seemed to love Pop and I can’t say I am one of them. I stood in online check in, both hotels I had done online check in and neither had people with IPad and I waited awhile at Pop. I get up to the desk and I am super excited. The cm tells me she can’t find me and I did not do online check in but she would help me. I said does that mean they do not have my room requests and she said yes. I had checked off 1st floor, close to transportation but early check in was what mattered most. I had paid for a preferred room and I just wanted to put my bags in the room, go through the carryon, and repack it for the parks. I said, we’ll all I really cared about was if the room would be ready. She told me there was no way as the hotel was fully booked and pointed at a stack of magic bands boxes. I was like ok, I just thought I would check because we just got off the cruise and we threw everything in bags last night and I wanted to re pack my park bag because we were headed to Epcot. She suggested I try and find room over where the TV area was before you check in. Ok, not off to a great start, she could be a little nicer but what can you do. She then says you smell good. I was like, ok, thanks. She then said surprise your room is ready and I almost hugged her I was so happy. She gave us a map and we were in room 5459 in the jungle book building. We checked out the shadow boxes and laughed about how the kids had no idea what most of the stuff was. The kids were excited and we went to the room. I loved how close it was and preferred seemed worth the extra money.
We walked into the room and it smelled. It was not horrible, but DH said to me, do you smell that and I was like kind of (I did but did not want to make a big deal), I told him it smelled like cleaning supplies and mousekeeping may have used too much. We had a mickey head out of towels the first day and that was it. We saw towel animals in the room next to us in the window but we never got any. DD walks in and goes what smells? I repacked the bag and off we went to the bus stop with bil and friend. We got the bus at 11:35 and by 11:47 we were at Epcot. I picked up the stroller rental and had told DS that he was spending most of the day in the stroller, because he still was pale and recovering from the stomach bug. On the MK day no one wanted the stroller. Today it was a fight all day of who could get in first. I had originally planned today as a rest day but somehow had it in my head that we got off the ship Thursday when we got off Friday and even had to cancel a night off of our POP registration .We had a fast pass for spaceship earth and went right to it. Some lady with a beer almost knocked my 5 year old over running over to hug a friend. I yelled, can you watch it, he’s 5 and you almost knocked him over. She could have cared less. After spaceship earth we did the video thing and it took forever, I never got it in my email but really did not care.
I suggested that we head over to lunch before it got too late. We had a 5:30 garden grill adr. BIL wanted to go to club cool where they have all the free samples of coke and DD was dying to try the Beverly. I suggested that BIl and friend meet up with us in England because I wanted fish and chips. I also did not want to rush DD through because I knew she was looking forward to club cool. Along the way I stopped for a chicken nugget meal for the kids to split. It was where they had cronuts and I suggested we get one for later, DH said we will get one later and we never went back that way. I got the nuggets and fries to go along with a huge drink with no ice, how come there is a lack of ice in Florida? They also gave me a huge ice cream for the snack. The nuggets were going to take 8 minutes to cook and I really did not want to give the kids ice cream first but it was the only snack option. The kids ate the ice cream and finished it before the nuggets were ready. We brought the nuggets to England; I found a table while DH got the fish and chips. Yum Yum . DS was scared of the large birds waiting for food. Of course people were feeding them which only encourages them. We then started walking WS. DH and I are not Epcot fans, at all. We only went because the kids wanted to do garden grill. We walked through and I did a photo pass with the Eiffel tower in the background. The photographer was great, he took his time and even had DH and I do a magic shot without the kids.
I had read about having the silhouettes done and DH noticed they had a stand at Epcot (see he sometimes listen as I Disney obsess). I brought the kids over and was told they do not accept magic bands (again I knew that from all the trip reviews I have read) and they were $8 each and the Frames were $8 each. We had the option of by themselves or together and chose by themselves. It was interesting to watch how they do them. They get little scissors out and whip them right up. It was fun and the kids loved them. They also give you a second cut out but which set of grandparents do you giveit to?
I saw Aurora was meeting but had a huge line. I told DH how DD kept saying that was the only princess she did not meet on the ship. She is 8 and on the cusp of what she thinks of the princesses. She is totally a girly girl but the princesses are losing their magic. Well she was beaming with Aurora, they are some of the prettiest pictures and I was glad we stopped. We continued through WS with lots of complaining from the kids, I’m bored, I want to do rides, it’s hot, and my feet hurt. We looked for Jasmine but could not find the location. There was a sign with a site listed but no luck finding her. DH had enough and we were getting ready to do the boat ride and leave the ws for our fast pass for characters M&G when the phone rang. BIL found Mr. Smee, now remember DS was Hook on the ship. He begged DH to dress up as Smee, but DH would not do it. We stopped boarding the boat and back tracked to Smee who did not have a photo pass photographer and was just meeting off to the side with some random characters, I can’t even remember who. With that we headed to China for Mulan. We stopped and the cm said the line was closed. I asked when it would reopen, he said 3: xx, I asked him if he said 3:15 or 3:50 and it was 3:50 which was over an hour away. DD was really disappointed but I told her there was nothing I could do. It is frustrating that they have different characters at Epcot but the times are so spread out, it is hard to catch the characters. We then went to Norway. I was dying to try school bread from all the reviews I had read. It was not bad but I was not a fan, DS liked the cream and dipped his chocolate pretzel in it. We ended up throwing away most of the pretzel and some school bread because no one really liked it. I tried to get DD to check out the frozen stuff in Norway but she was not interested. We rode the Mexico boat ride and headed off to see Duffy.
I know people love Duffy; I just do not get the appeal. A couple on the cruise ship had a Duffy bear that they took to all M&G and would continuously kiss the bear like it was a real baby. So Duffy became a type of joke to us and I told DS he had to get a picture with him. We then headed to club cool which the kids loved. It was sticky in there but a good way to beat the heat. Our FP just opened for Soarin and BIl wanted to go right then. We headed off to Soarin which everyone loved. I think Soarin is the only thing that would get me back to Epcot and even that would be pushing it. After Soarin we went to living with the land which is one of DS favorite rides. While in line the announcement came on that they were having technical difficulties. I suggested we head over to the Disney Visa meet and greet and come back to the land as we had reservations for GG. The M&G was cool. You wait in a line where you have to show your Disney visa, you are then given a coupon for a free 5x7 print which you redeem at the photo place up towards the big ball. You do not know which characters are in there. People kept trying to ask the cm and he would not tell. It was our turn next and I asked him if the kids could go together since DH and I both had a coupon because there was going to be a war over who found out the characters first. He was so good. He said I’ll be right back; he peeked his head in and told the cm that he was personally bringing 2 kids in. He came back out and said they were really lucky that 2 of his favorite 5 were in there. He told them he would hold each of their hands and they had to keep their eyes closed, when he counted to 3 they could open their eyes and he would bring them to the characters. It was such a magical moment and it is things like this you remember. It ended up being Minnie and Goofy and it was so much fun. Afterwards they played in Innoventions and we did the character spot which was also great because the characters gave a ton of attention time to the kids and the backdrops were cool. We then went back to living with the land, when the announcement came on again that they were having temporary technical problems. We had a 5:30 GG ADR and I asked a CM how long the ride was and she said 15 minutes. At 5:15 we gave up and checked into GG early. We were seated early and taken to a table for 6. This was our favorite meal last trip and it was just kind of ok. The waitress was good, we had 2 platters of food, our beef was very rare and we like well done, BIls was the opposite so we switched. I asked for more mac and cheese for DH and the kids. The characters felt rushed and it was not bad just not good.
We then went back to living with the land and thankfully rode without technical difficulties. We headed over to Nemo, which has stopped but was reloading and turtle time with crush. Bil and friend left to do their own thing and we had planned to head back after crush. The kids sat in front and without ds raising his hand, crush started talking to him and asked where his parental units were and I was forced to talk. DD raised her hand and had a good interaction and then we started heading out. We went to the photo place to get our free photo and the line was all the way around the store. I gave my free coupons to the 2 couples ahead of us and we stopped at the bathroom. I looked for someone coming in to give my stroller rental too as we were done but no one wanted it. We headed to the buses got on a bus at 8:06 and by 8:16 were back at Pop. The kids wanted to walk up in the big yoyos and take the stairs to our room and let me tell you no matter which yoyo we were in they always stunk of garbage even in the morning, so that was not the fun part of the big yoyos. We headed off to bed and planned HS for the morning.
 
Saturday 1/17 Hollywood Studios
DH woke up with the return of the stomach bug. I luckily had notices that everything Pop opened at 6:00 am and headed out to wait for it to open. I was amazed to see 7 people waiting for it to open. I bought him Imodium for $10.99 (I think) and the day before I had bought DS nighttime cough medicine as he was sneezing and coughing and that was $8.99 which is probably around the price at CVS. I gave DH the Imodium and suggested that he stay back. He wanted to wait it out so we did and he decided to try to go. HS had EMH at 8:00 and I originally wanted to sign DS up for Jedi training. My original plan was to sign him up, head to TSM and then let our fast passes direct us. I had booked an ADR for fantasmic and Mama Melrose for 3:50 and had planned on going back to the hotel after our 12:10 TOT fast passes.
I let BIL know DH was sick and we would be going slow today and taking it easy. We arrived at the gates at 8:58, there was a big line at Jedi sign up so I told DH there was no sense in waiting if he was going to be turned away and I did not know how long we would be in the park. So we headed to Honey I shrunk playground. The kids love this and I not so much. It is easy to lose the kids and I always worry they will wander out. We figured going there first would reduce the chaos and let them play. Around 9:45 we ended up going over to the Monster Inc meet and greet that opens at 10:00. We were 3rd in line but that line got long quick. Sully was getting all the love and when it was photo pass time, I asked if I could get a picture with just Mike. Mike is my height and it is hysterical to see me next to him in the pictures. Sully acted so hurt and photo bombed the picture in a hysterical way.
We next had a fast pass for Frozen sing along. I was not sure of the location, BIL kept telling me it was in the old AI studios, it was not and I finally asked someone. We waited to be let in and DS wanted to do mater and McQueen and I told him later but we never got back to it. Frozen sing along was the only fp line that we never had to have our magic bands scanned. We waited in a huge line, and lucked into front row seating on the side. Stand by appeared to get it but I do not know if they cut people off. I do know I had a later time and tried for almost 2 months to switch to an earlier show. Just before Christmas, I was able to switch it. The show was ok, I like the historians but the kids were kind of bored. I was surprised because they sing the songs together at home and even the not so common ones. They both sang let it go and it gave DH a rest. The crowds getting out were huge and we did not back track to Mater and headed over to TSM. We stopped and did a picture with green army man and got right into FP for TSM. Everyone loved that ride. I was dying to eat at Starring rolls but we stopped to see Baymax. I had been reluctant to tell DS about this M&G because I had read there were problems with the costume and that it was going away Mid-January. When we did our reveal on Christmas, BIL told him About Baymax and I was so mad. DS loves Big Hero 6 and a lot of his Christmas and Birthday presents were big hero 6, so I know the love he feels for him and did not want him disappointed. I checked Kenny the Pirate and it looked like he was still meeting so off we went. We passed the incredibles who the kids were for Halloween last year and ran to Baymax. It was an awesome background of the garage and wait very little line, Yes. Oh wait, no Baymax but you could meet Hiro. Hiro really tried, but DS was so disappointed as probably most kids were. It was still good and I gushed but DS was disappointed.
We ate at Starring Rolls. I loved it. I ordered 2 turkey sandwiches (you cannot get them plain, I picked off the extra for the kids) and asked if I could get a cupcake for the meal plan and she said yes, along with a bag of chips and a drink. They had Baymax cupcakes, so I got 1 and a Butterfinger cupcake along with 2 bottles of water and the total was $37.99 but we had the dining plan so 2 quick serve credits. What a deal. My fussy kids loved the sandwich; I think it even had fresh mozzarella on it. There was lots of seating outdoors and when I opened the one bottle of water it was frozen. I brought it back and they told me to keep it for later. I also got a to go container for the extra cupcake that was so big I had to squish it in the holder. DH wanted no food and DD tried the cupcake. She said I don’t like chocolate cupcakes but this is good. I need to try new things I think I will ride TOT. Now she had ridden it at 4 years old and was terrified. She told everyone she was allergic and to never talk to her about it again. DS was finally tall enough and could not wait. I encouraged her that trying new things is good but suggested TOT might be too much. Nope she wanted to. Well she hated it, she was terrified and the ride picture shows it. For some reason we never got the video just the picture. DS loved it. DD was crying and at that point I said we are going back to rest and swim. We told BIL we would meet up with him for dinner and walked to the buses. We watched the POP century bus pull away just as we were almost there and I suggested we take AOA and walk to POP. I had read it was a short walk and saw the bridge connecting the 2 was on the other side of our building. DH agreed and when we got to AOA, I asked someone at ink and paint shop how to get there. She was so sweet and walked us out to the food court and directed us through Nemo. It really was maybe 5-10 minute walk and not bad at all. DD took a nap and the kids and I explored some of the sections. We had a snack at the food court. DD was dying to try the King cupcake that I told her about, I think it was peanut butter frosting, banana filling and candied bacon, she was not a fan and the first day it was sold out. DS got tye dye cheesecake, another thing I had read about and I got an Oreo cupcake. Again with the disappointment, the tye dye cheesecake was gross. It got thrown out and DS said it tasted like Swiss cheese. We took pictures and woke DH up to see how he was. He still was not feeling good, so I asked the kids swimming or Fantasmic. They gladly picked swimming. I told DH we would be charged $60 if we did not go to Mama Melrose but he did not care. I also figured out that I was paying oop for Crystal Palace the next day and I could use the TS credits. I called BIL to tell him we weren’t coming back and to ask him if he still wanted Mama Melrose because I was going to cancel. He said yes, I asked if he was sure and he said yes. I called and changed the reservation and they did not charge me the fee, I gave another credit card hold and they gave me a new confirmation number. I call BIL and he says they may not want to go, I tell him to decide because I just gave the confirmation and he agreed. We then went down to the Hippy Dippy Pool. The kids again wanted to walk in the Yoyos which smelled and one had a huge spider web that had been there for some time.
Pool games were going on and looked fun but the kids did not want to participate. We tried the pool, it was freezing. They also have petals that shoot out water and the wind was blowing that on us as well. I saw a kiddie area and suggested we try that. It was very shallow but much warmer and they played in that for a while. We saw there was a movie by the pool later that night but it was Emperor’s New Groove which we just watched the other day. DH still had not eaten anything and we did not love the POP food court so we walked over to AOA. I told DH to sit with the kids while I scoped it out. I like the food court but it has many different stations with long lines. I found a soup line with chicken noodle soup. I asked the lady to give me as much broth as possible because all DH wanted was broth; she was so good and gave me crackers. I got him ginger ale as well with our meals and filled up the refillable cups. I brought that out to DH and got a grilled cheeses for DS (it was on goldfish bread and got 2 packs of apples for his snack which I saved for DH for later. I got the Caprese sandwich for me and a make your own burger for DD with gelato. They stamped the receipt and I went back for Gelato. The kids meal does not come with desert so I let DS have mine which was brownie with marshmallows. We sat there a while and I got another soup to go but this guy did not take the noodles out. We walked back to POP and watched some TV while I again did laundry. We went to bed early, everyone was tired and prepared for our last full day at MK.
 
Sorry I had to make a new name, I could not get my old one to work after the changeover to the new boards...
1/18 Sunday MK last full day
Today we had 8:00 ADR at Crystal Palace. Everyone was tired. We got there at 7:35 went through bag check and ADR line. Neither kid’s bands would scan. We had to get out of line, go to guest services where they had me fill something out and a little while later it was fixed. We checked in at 8:16 for Crystal Palace. We only did 1 picture in front of the empty castle. No one cared anymore, no one wanted to walk and the at this point who wanted grumpy family pictures. We waited a little while and finally our name was called. If you watch the Middle we had a hostess who looked like Sue Heck and acted like her. She walked us all around the restaurant and then back up front and was having a discussion with another worker that someone was at our table. There were tons of empty tables, but finally they walked us to another table. She smiled like Sue Heck and no one could get mad. We were seated and the waiter came right over. We each took a kid and I was happy with the food. I got my mickey waffles with strawberries that I ate on the cruise. I tried the pooh toast, it was ok, I tried the breakfast lasagna, it was ok to. I did not see the omelet section and really all I cared about was mickey waffles, the characters came around and all in all I would definitely book it again. We had our check quickly and while they waited for eeyore, I ran up front and rented a carriage.
We went to Peter Pan and got in line without checking the wait time. BIL called us and said why you are waiting in an hour line. No, we rode this twice the other day without a line. Got out of line, saw the sign and was like ohhh, what a difference a week makes. The park was so much more crowded (Sunday before Martin Luther King Day). We did small world, walk on and Pooh. The kids wanted to do the tea cups and I waited in a really long line to meet Alice and the Rabbit. We then walked over to meet Gaston. Gaston had a huge line well before it was time to open. It had to be the worst location for a M&G. The line snaked around the bathrooms so anyone who wanted to use the rest rooms had to cut through the line. We saw some teenage girls who were dressed similar to characters but not in costume. DD loved trying to figure out who they were. It was also funny to see how much love people have for Gaston. Grown woman looked like they were going to swoon. It was an awesome interaction and DS loved showing off his muscles and being urged to eat more eggs by Gaston. We did Dumbo and headed over for Peter Pan fast pass. While in line, I looked for a qs lunch and thought Pinocchio’s would be good because they had chicken Cesar salad and DH was just starting to eat again. I detested Pinocchio’s. It has hot, crowded and the food was gross. The chicken in DH’s salad looked barely cooked and almost frozen it was so cold. My Mediterranean chicken looked nothing like the picture, the kids split nuggets and we all had the sugar free gelato. Once again the drinks had no ice. BIl was supposed to have chocolate gelato but it was cookies and cream and the kids probably would have liked that better than the Mango gelato. We then headed to Mine train for our fast passes.
We had an ADR for 5:00 at 1900 Park Fare so we were conscious of time. The kids wanted to do Hall of presidents again; they were having technical difficulties and advise us to come back in 20 minutes, so we headed to the Liberty Belle. We had never done that so we hopped aboard. It was fun and relaxing but no bathroom onboard. I wish we had known more about Tom Sawyers Island because the kids wanted to do that but we were running out of time. We headed over for our Buzz fast pass, rode the people mover twice and made a fast pass at the kiosk for Aladdin’s carpet ride as that would be our last ride. The line again for dole whips was outrageous so we skipped it and sadly rode our last ride. Afterwards we shopped on the way out for some souvenirs. We ended up in the emporium where I encountered a grumpy cm. The kids had saved up their Christmas money and gift cards for the trip. They mostly purchased pins. I told them this was just about the last chance to shop, so they picked out their pins and I made 3 orders. Well even DD was like that lady was not very nice; she should work the mine train and be grumpy. Sorry that I made 3 orders so the kids could use their money and gift cards. I make budgeting a huge part of our vacation and the kids save up change ($400) and have them return the cans and put the money in the Disney fund. It is extremely effective when they have their own spending money to decide if they really want a particular souvenir. Well too bad grumpy cm, I had checked out with 3 orders with no one in line behind us.
We stopped for a photo pass out front and it was a really cute magic shot and we took the monorail to Grand Floridian. The resort was beautiful but very fancy. We went to 1900 Park Fare and waited a little bit for our buzzer. We took a picture in front of the scenery with photo pass and it actually came out really nice. I enjoyed the buffet and the character interaction here surpassed any we had the entire trip. It was Cinderella, Prince Charming and the stepsisters. They have Cinderella and the prince dance formally and the one stepsister, Anastasia was dancing silly. She looked over at DS and when she was done told him, that was just for you. His face was hysterical. Later when doing the table rounds, she went up to DD and said, who is this handsome young man, she was like my brother. She was like how could you not tell me you have a handsome brother. Then she said I see you have a lot of bows on your shirt, show my sister she will be so jealous. She then told DS in a few years you are going to marry me and he turned so red, we died laughing.
I encouraged DD to tell Drusilla what Anastasia said about her bows, Drusilla told her well yeah but can you turn your bows into a unicorn horn and changed the shape of her bow. DD just stared at her and then glared at me. I asked DD don’t you have anything to add and she shook her head no. Drusilla then told her well-played and high fived her. It was so funny. I was sad no lady Tremaine but overall very happy with the meal. We took the monorail back and then walked over to the busses. We had the best bus driver ever and I wish he got his name. He was standing out front telling people things like your shoe is untied, making Roz voices telling people always watching and then told DD 8, you dropped your cell phone, she just stared because she does not have one. We got on the bus and he said the announcements were not working so he would do them. He said the speech and then started telling us facts about everything from the center most point on property (By the fountains at Epcot) to how many busses they own and just kept it fun. You could tell he loved his job and it was just the extra Disney magic we needed on our last night. He had us yell when we would go around a turn. He also had us yell when we got off the bus so the new people getting on would wonder what was going on.
We went back to the room, got our mugs and walked around. I stopped at the luggage/airline section of the resort to ask questions for the morning. We had a 2:40 flight and magic express was scheduled for 11:30. I stopped to ask about the luggage. I was told to get there 3 hours before and they would even print my boarding passes for me. I told him I would come early in the am around 800 so there would be no problems, insert foreboding duh duh duh music, and he told me there would be no problems coming early. I went back, checked us into southwest via cell phone, the kids and DH went to explore the resort and I got the luggage packed. We went to bed.
 
Monday Departure Day 1/19
We got up early and dragged the luggage to resort airline services. I waited a few minutes and got a brand new worker; she seemed nice but told me she was new. She started checking us in and was having problems; she called another worker who asked me if I spelled my son’s name right. Umm yeah, ok. She then told me she could not print the boarding pass because of a server issue. I was like what does that mean, she said when we get to the airline, and southwest would print it. I was like ok do we get something for our luggage, and she said, no, you will have to carry it yourself. I was like, what are you talking about the whole purpose of staying on property was so we did not have to deal with our luggage and we would have ME transportation. She was like sorry. DH was fuming and we walked away with me trying to call Southwest to see if there was a problem from southwest. He went back and asked for a supervisor. Malcolm comes over and I explain to him that the cm could not print my boarding pass, will not take my luggage and could he intervene. I asked if he could have her try again and asked what are options are. He said yes she could try again but that was it he could do. I asked him, if it does not work can we take an earlier ME bus to try and get our luggage checked in. He told me 3 hours was enough time. I told him when we left Albany it was 45 minute wait to check luggage and I was concerned that being a holiday the check in line would be longer and I did not want to miss my flight. He said, “I GUARANTEE, you will not miss your flight.” I said you guarantee it, is Disney going to work with southwest to get me on another flight. He said, No. I told him then do not tell me you will guarantee me anything. I again asked about getting on an earlier ME and he told me we could wait at the bus stop and talk to the driver to see if there was room on the bus. I asked him if there was a way to check that out before we brought all the luggage down and he said no asked him what the time would be to go and talk to the driver and he said they come every half an hour. I asked him if the cm could try again, she did and was like , nope. So we left our luggage with the supervisor, Malcolm and walked away.
I was so mad, yes I could cart all the luggage but I was worried about missing our flight. I was thinking about calling a cab and DH said is there a contact number on the ME paperwork. I looked and there was an 800 number. I called and within 4 minutes, I was booked on an earlier ME, I had a confirmation number and my anxiety level was reduced. I am still furious with the lack of customer service I received. I never screamed and yelled or got rude. I asked for assistance and was told he would guarantee I would not miss my flight, bad choice of words. I was told I could ask the bus driver to get on the bus, I was not told when the bus would come, there was no I’m sorry, it was blank stares and shaking of heads at me. When we did board the ME at the earlier time, we were the only bus stop and there were 4 families on the bus. That got me angry again because I could understand if they were sharing busses and Malcolm had no way of knowing how many people were on the bus, but it only stropped at Pop Century. He should have either offered to call ME or given me the ME number or directed me to someone at POP who could have at least made an effort to try and come up with a solution. I was not looking for Disney to pay for a cab, money off my vacation or anything other than to help problem solve my family getting to the airport with our luggage to make our flight on time. It was a bad way to end our Disney experience and I already was not loving POP, so this just further soured me on the resort.
We decided to go to DTD and eat at Earl of Sandwich. Earl is one of my favorite places in the world. When I was pregnant and doing Lamaze class they had us pick our happy place to picture and mine seriously was Earl of Sandwich. DH even printed a picture for me to focus on. We hopped on the ME and arrived at 9:38. We did not know DTD opens at 10:00. Luckily Earl was open and for the first time, no line. It was great and we had never been for breakfast. I highly recommend going to DTD early on a non-park day. It was nice to walk around and take things in that you may not normally see because it is so crowded. Also if we had stayed longer we could have hit the stores right as they opened and shopped without the crowds. We used up our remaining dining credits, got sandwiches for lunch at the airport, I had the Caprese, DH had Ham and cheese. We had Bacon egg and cheddar with no sauce breakfast sandwiches and DH had a ham and cheese omelet with a side of potatoes. Once again, no ice for drinks and DD had a strawberry smoothie. We hopped an empty bus back to AOA and walked the bridge for the last time. We boarded the 10:55 ME without incident and by 11:55 we were checked in with southwest. We did some more shopping at the airport outside the store with the snow white statue on the bench, the kids got more pins and I got a Minnie mouse sleep mask. We were through airport security by 12:17 and we ate lunch at the food court, the kids had McDonalds (with ice) and we ate our Earl sandwiches. We waited for our flight and by 5:38 we were in our van headed home to below freezing temperatures. We definitely picked the right week to go and there was a big storm coming that we got home in time for.
 
Final Thoughts
We loved the vacation but really it was too long. 10 days for us was too much. It is a lot of together time, a lot of sleeping with someone else in a bed other than yours with 4 people in a row. Yes we had sickness, so that wore me down where I was exhausted. I want to back in 2 years and definitely want to do another cruise. We should have rebooked on board for the discount but DH was not willing to even talk about it as he was sick. I think next time we we’ll do the Dream again, I loved the ship, the 4 nights and I like knowing where everything is. The kids loved the aqua duck and I loved Castaway Cay. If we add on it will be to do the parks first. Disney is so much walking that I think it would work to do the cruise after the parks. I really think next time it would be 2 nights at AOA, 1 MK day, the cruise for 4 nights and then 1 non park night at a resort, maybe even trying a nicer one for the one night and relaxing again before going home.
Pop Century, I was not a fan. I do not want to discourage anyone from staying there. There was nothing wrong with it, we just did not click. I think the lady at the front desk checking us in started my dad feelings and it just did not go away. It definitely did not end well so I think it is a no go for us. If the only way I could go back was to stay there, I would but my expectations would be lowered. The kids loved Pop Century so that is a plus. I did like being close to the bus stop, pool, food court and the extra money for preferred was definitely worth it. The bus service was good and it is nice to be so close to AOA that you can walk over the bridge. It was also nice to have the food court to walk to.
AOA, we loved. I definitely preferred the suites from last time and I would probably spend the extra for a suite if it was only a few nights. I really liked the little mermaid room. We had a Lakeview room and it was so pretty early in the morning to look at the lake. The walk was about 7 minutes and not bad but it made it a chore to go back and forth to the food court and we rarely filled up our mugs. The bus service was dedicated and we never waited long for a bus. It was nice that you could take the Pop bus as well.
Dining- With young kids the dining plan made sense for us. We did a character meal every day. I read lots of bad reviews for Chef Mickeys and we loved it. I also loved 1900 Park Fare. Garden Grill was just ok when last time it was our favorite. Take every review with a grain of salt, any place can have an off day. I loved starring roles as a quick serve and Earl of sandwich. AOA had a great Gelato selection and my only food regret was we did not get a dole whip due to the lines. Don’t forget if you are at the food court of your resort you can fill your mug and get a bottled drink as part of the meal plan, bring the bottled drink back to the room and stick in the fridge so you have a cold drink later, also it may not be a healthy breakfast but look at your snacks as something you can use for breakfast.
Gift Cards
I paid for the whole trip with the exception of deposits with gift cards I bought at Target. At the very least I saved 5% when I bought Disney gift cards and used my target card to pay for them. Thanksgiving weekend Target cards were 10% off, I bought $1200 worth and save $120. It is a great way to budget and save money. My TA applied them to my balance as a payment.
Read the boards
I learned so much from reading trip reports. I read the boards every day and so many trip reviews. I learned so many tips, must dos and short cuts. I asked questions and took everything in. I planned, I made notes, I crunched numbers, I worried over fast passes and in the end we had a great trip. I was flexible when needed and even with all my planning things happened like sickness that I could not control. So Thank you to everyone who helped even if you did not know you helped.
 
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