A Hop, NO Skip, and Many Mishaps to a Disney Dream

[jenseib]

Hello all! We just got back from a fabulous “Dream” trip on the Disney Dream, along with a stay at Residence Inn, Cape Canaveral, Pop Century at WDW, and Residence Inn near Sea World, with a few park visits to Magic Kingdom, Sea World and Epcot!

 

The dates of this trip were March 30th to April 6th.

 

Let’s get started with the introductions of who was SUPPOSED to go on this trip.

 

Me~ Jennifer~ The mom of 3 LOVELY Children (though they are not always lovely at the same time…or even all the time) I am a very BIG Disney fan and am always trying to think of a way to get there!

 

 

Skip~ My Wonderful husband of almost 9 years. He is a good dad, and he even puts up with my passion for Disney…though usually with a lot of eye rolling.

 

 

Claire~ a 6 year old girl who loves Disney very much and was very excited to take her first Cruise, as well as seeing and dressing like the Princesses.

 

 

My 2 other children are now adults and did not travel with us nor really want to for the most part. They are Michael and Paige.

 

As the title will tell you, we had a few mishaps, and there was a cast change…more on that in a bit.

 

Now for a little background info…….history. It is a little long, but I promise, I have a ton of pictures to post after all of this!

 

This is one of those trips that I thought just never would happen…I know, you’ve heard it all before, but HONESTLY, it really took a LONG time to get to this point.

 

We have gone to Disney with Claire in March of 2007, 2008 and 2009. I really wanted to go again in 2010. Skip had had a hip replacement in late 2009 and just was not ready to go back in early 2010. But believe me, I tried to convince him all the same. Claire and I then came up with the plan that we should go for her 6th birthday in December. Skip said he would think about it. Through out the year, we got a lot of “some days”, “we’ll sees”, and “maybes”.

In the mean time, Skip was still having troubles with his hip and had been sent to several different Drs…all of them claiming to have no clue what was wrong with him.

In Oct Skip started talking more about a possible Dec. trip. We had dates set, and places we want to go, etc.

Then he threw a wrench in my plans. “How much does a Disney cruise cost?”…. I was shocked! I had tried to convince him to do this in 2009 for my 40th birthday, but when it came down to it, he decided he would rather go to WDW. He had worries about a cruise with a little one with us.

I did some quick pricing, and the price for 3 nights on the Wonder, along with a few nights at WDW were almost the same as 7 nights at WDW. Before making it a done deal, Skip had one more Dr’s appointment he wanted to attend and see what was determined. This was with his hip Dr. who had claimed all year long that nothing was wrong with the hip.

Things totally changed this day. The Dr found that the implant had never adhered to the bone and the replacement was going to need to be replaced. It was scheduled for Dec 6th….2 days before we had planned to leave for our vacation.

Plans then were postponed and we decided we would go in March and still be able to catch the free dining. (I must note that even though we agreed on this, Skip sometimes doesn’t listen to me and just agrees anyways).

Mid January rolls around, Skip seems to be healing well, and I mention that we have to have Disney paid for soon to be able to get the free dining. Skip goes in panic mode and says, he doesn’t care about saving money (yeah right) and he would rather go in May now, but he WOULD NOT commit to any dates. Let’s just say that I wasn’t happy, and for a few days there wasn’t much talking going on at all in our house.

 

A few days later, Skip mentions he has called a Travel Agent and has looked at possibly going on the Disney Dream or going to Disneyland in CA. My job then, was to spend lots of hours on the computer pricing several scenarios, we chose the 3 night Dream, with a few added park days.

FINALLY a trip is booked!

 

 

A little cruising history~

I have been on two cruises in my life prior to this trip, both on NCL. I really enjoyed it. It is also the only kind of cruise experience I have ever known, so I couldn’t compare it to other lines. Skip also sailed once on NCL with me. We both liked the free style dining. What would I think of Disney?

 

They are SUPERIOR!

 

Now for a few mishaps….

On Feb 26th, Skip’s brother broke his leg. They are business partners of our Dairy Farm, and one need to be able to work at all times. Skip was slightly worried, but then figured his brother would be just fine in a months time. After all Skip had his hip replaced and was back to work in 2 weeks.

All seemed to be looking good.

30 days before we set sail…….. March 1. In celebration of being in our travel month, I gave Claire a little gift bag of goodies.

She got Poppy Jr...which she loves. She is obsessed with Chihuahua 2 movie and watches it daily. So this was a perfect gift. She briefly lost him on a mall trip and I thought the world might end if we didn’t find him, but luckily we did!

 

 

And a Mickey head watch that you can wear like a necklace

 

 

 

She is learning to tell time now, so I thought it would be nice to take on the trip.

 

And a book with info about each Disney character

 

 

She was very excited and enjoyed these gifts. She also worked on a Countdown calendar daily, adding a new sticker each day till the day of our flight!

 

 

On to March 16, a Wednesday.

Skip comes into the house from working and says he doubts very much his brother will be able to even walk in the next two weeks. He tells me to ask Paige if she would like to go along in his place. I was upset, of course, but what could we do? I called Paige and she wanted to go REALLY badly. BUT she had just started 2 new jobs about a week or 2 earlier and she was in school as well. After a day of thinking it over she did the responsible thing and said she couldn’t go.

I called my Mom and asked if she would like to come. I wasn’t sure if she could because she had just come home from Vegas the Sat. before.

She cleared her work schedule and OK’d it with her boss and by Friday she was on the reservation to take Skips place.

 

New Cast member….. Mom!

 

 

But there was a kink still in the plans. Dad wanted to go as well. We gave DCL a call and were told that the ship was at capacity. After some talking and playing around with the airlines and a few more calls, we made a decision. Dad was going to fly down with us and stay with us at the Residence Inn one night. He would then drop us off at the Port and go on to Kennedy Space Center for the day, then head over to his sisters home in the Villages (about 2 hours away) for the next 3 nights. He would then come back and pick us up from the Port and join us for the park days.

 

Next New cast Member…Dad!

 

 

So the plans are all set. Nothing is allowed to go wrong from here on out!

 

Of course we do have a few mishaps along the way, but we have fun!

 

I have to tell you of a mishap right up front though….this one affects the trip report. This was the final mishap of the trip, and I didn’t even know it had happened till the day we got home. I LOST an SD card from my point and shoot camera. I take a LOT of pictures. I took 3 cameras on this trip.I think I have over 2000 even without the lost card, so I have plenty of pictures to show you all. BUT there is a few times where I had used this camera with this card in it for a couple of hours solely, so sadly there will be a few spots with some missing pictures.

I have made several calls to every lost and found number I could find, but no one has been able to locate the card.

 

On to the fun!!!!

[WFChris]

I LOVED your last WDW PTR, and am very much looking forward to this one! You definitely add a personal touch that emotionally connects one with the story. Can't wait!

 

Chris.

[RCFreak]

^Everything he said. I'm also anticipating the next chapter in this story!

[jenseib]

I LOVED your last WDW Photo TR, and am very much looking forward to this one! You definitely add a personal touch that emotionally connects one with the story. Can't wait!

 

Chris.

 

Thanks for joining in! I am moving a little slow with all the editing of pictures (and that dang real life that gets in the way!)

[jenseib]

^Everything he said. I'm also anticipating the next chapter in this story!

 

Thanks!

[jenseib]

Day 1. Wednesday, March 30th

 

This is THE day!

 

I have so much energy when going on vacation. I can’t sleep much. There is so much to do, and I don’t want to miss a single bit of it. The adrenaline had hit me early in on the week and I wasn’t sleeping much days prior to leaving.

 

This day I woke up at 6 AM. No reason too, but I couldn’t sleep any more. I got up and gathered last minute things, showered, checked the internet a couple of last times and drove myself crazy a bit.

Finally it was time to get Claire up. Claire ran to put the last sticker on the countdown calendar. Minnie Mouse had left a note and bag of goodies for Claire.

 

 

Claire was excited and sat right on the kitchen floor to look in the bag.

 

 

I took that on my camera phone and texted it to family and friends.

 

Skip was taking us to the airport. Mom and Dad were driving there car and leaving it there. We live very close to Toledo airport.

We left at exactly 10:30, as I had planned. How’s that for timing! I made the comment to Skip that we couldn’t be more on time if we tried. We got to the airport about 10:45, even with a stop at the bank on the way.

Skip dropped us off, helped us get the bags in and we gave him hugs and kisses.

Claire and I got in line for Allegiant Air and called Mom. They were close.

The Allegiant desk hadn’t opened yet for the flight. Since the flight left at 1:05, I assume they would probably open around 11.

Mom made it in, while Dad parked the car and we waited a few minutes to hear an announcement….one of THOSE announcement you HATE to hear.

Mishap number 1 is about to happen…..

Now of course people are talking and the sound system is awful, so we really weren’t clear what they said, but the gist of it was that the flight was delayed at 1 ½ hours due to a maintenance problem. GREAT!

Dad joined us and we got checked in fairly fast. They told us that we could send carry ons through as well, but I declined. If I had known they would take them for free I would’ve packed differently, but I had camera equipment in both bags and I didn’t want to chance anything getting broken.

Next stop, security! We threw our bags on the conveyer and all loose things. They even had me take my belt off. I never had that before. They directed Claire and I to a different spot than Mom and Dad. I realized then that they didn’t have children go through the full body scanners, and since I was her parent I had to stay with her. We breezed through and started gathering our gear and getting dressed.

Dad was carrying one of my carry ons and it got flagged. It was all the camera gear. So I stood and waited while the agent went through it all.

Once it was Ok’d we heading up to our gate.

 

Of course we were hungry and we had a lot of time to kill now. We got some food at the little food station. A Marcos personal pan pizza for Claire, which was comparable to cardboard, and subway sandwiches for the rest of us.

 

 

 

I called Skip and told him about the delay. Of course he laughed at us. Nice husband!

 

Then I started taking pictures, some on my phone and texted them to family…what else was there to do.

 

Dad is NOT mad here. It’s one of his silly faces.

 

 

When I sent this picture, my Uncle texted back and wanted to know why mom didn’t have Mickey ears on, so we then took the next picture and sent it to him.

 

 

 

And then we wandered over to the window to see if we saw anything interesting.

 

 

Nope, nothing we can’t miss.

 

We goofed around, went to the bathroom a few times and then mom walked Claire over to the very small kids area. Mom talked to a few people over there, and all were also heading to Disney. I walked over, snapped a few pictures, and talked to some of them as well. Everyone was excited and wanted the plane to get there soon.

 

 

 

Here’s where my pictures end for awhile. All after this point were taken with my point and shoot on the lost SD card.

 

We finally saw the plane arrive and people of course line right up. Why do this? You have to wait for the other passengers to get off and then get called on. Allegiant has many options, all you have to pay for. You can have priority boarding, pick your seats prior, and the closer to the front the more they cost, and of course baggage charges. So if you know where you are going to sit, why do you need to line up 10 minutes prior to boarding? And if you did not pick your seats, it’s not going to matter if you line up now, as you have to wait for the whole plane to board before they let you on to find a free seat.

We found most of the people lined up were those who had NOT paid for seating.

One smart thing they did was load the plane from the back after Priority Boarding. In the past they never did that. But it makes it a little easier for everyone.

Dad was several rows behind us since we had booked his ticket at a different time and he boarded just before us.

We all got seated and settled in. Claire always has the window seat, and I sat next to her. Mom took a VERY nice picture of Claire and I on the plane, but of course it’s lost in Wonderland.

As we taxied out to the runway I snapped a few pictures out the window….again lost.

 

We took off at 2:45. That is 1 hour and 40 minutes late at this point. At least we were on the way. We brought some snacks and ate those, Used the potty once. I did crosswords, while Claire played with different things. I snapped some pictures of the clouds. Soon I could see the Florida Coast outside and pointed it out to mom.

The pilot came on around 4:40 and said we would be at the gate in 20 minutes…..YAY!!!!! I looked out the window and saw Cocoa Beach area. It looked just like the map. Of course I had snapped a picture of that too. Dad told us when we got off that he saw it too and he could see the Kennedy launch pad, clear as day.

It was now 5 and we had not even descended any. I told mom I think we were circling. Soon the pilot came on again and said there were bad storms in the Sanford area and we were flying over them till it cleared, and then going to go in from another angle and it would be bumpy.

And then we circled and circled and circled. The kid across the aisle said “There’s EPCOT!” And I asked the dad if he really could see it and he said yes. Dad also commented when we got off that he could see some Amusement parks, which I assume were Disney.

Finally it was time to land. Our delayed flight was getting even more delayed in air. We had a very bumpy ride then. Mom worried how Dad was doing. He’s not a roller coaster kind of guy and this basically felt like one. To our pilots credit we had the smoothest landing EVER. I mean you could not EVEN tell when we touched down, it was that smooth. Everything was wet, but no rain now at least.

We went to our gate and waited…and waited…and waited. After a bit the pilot got on again and said the jetway had been damaged in the storm, so they were going to tow us to another gate and hope that one worked. Of course we had to put all our carry ons back and secured, and sit down with our seatbelts on.

It was about 6 or so before we ever got off the plane. Our original arriving time was supposed to be 3:25, so we were a few hours late now. But for us it wasn’t a big deal, as we were just going to the Port area for the night.

We made our way to baggage claim and rounded up everything and then headed over to Alamo. I have never rented from Alamo before. Usually I do it with Hertz, since my SIL works for them and can get us a deal, but we booked Alamo through the Allegiant website and it was a real good deal…..Don’t do this. Or at least we won’t again.

The Alamo building is actually quite a walk from the baggage claim area. We plopped our bags down and I went in line to check in. Originally we had just rented a full size car. That would be enough for 3, but now that we had an extra person and extra luggage, we knew it would be very tight.

I asked about upgrading and they gave me numbers like, it will cost 500 and some odd dollars for this, or 700 and some odd dollars for that. I said, “I just want to know how much to upgrade, we have already paid.” Finally he said he would give me a deal (though I didn’t think it was), and for $150 more he would let us have a van. Mom said just go for it, so we did. He printed out paperwork and told me to go out and pick one. I brought it up and we loaded it. I am so glad we got the van. I don’t think we would’ve ever fit everything in a car.

I noticed the paperwork said I was paying $244 though. So when we went through the check out gate I asked about it. Here’s what I did not know. When booking through Allegiant, you are not paying any taxes, so when you actually pick up your car, all the taxes are added on. I wasn’t too happy about that “MISHAP”, but what am I to do at that point.

We are now off to Residence Inn!!!

 

I did call Skip when we landed and told him of all the delays in the air, etc. Of course he laughed again at me. He knows how I get when things don’t go right. I usually get panicky and uptight. But since we didn’t HAVE to be anywhere tonight, (like a park), I was actually doing fine. The only things we had to do was get checked into our hotel and get something to eat. The rest of the night was for relaxation.

 

Now things get a little stressful when we leave the airport. I think we were on the road somewhere between 6:30 and 6:45. I have printed out various maps/directions for our trip. I hand the paper to Dad as he is riding shotgun. I basically say, “where to” as I am driving. I did the directions from the actual airport address, rather than the Alamo lot. This confuses Dad. He tells me to find a certain road. I tell him we just turned off that rode, what’s the next direction, and he just keeps saying find “this” road. I finally just ripped them out of his hands and handed them back to mom. I tell her I just need the route to get to and I can follow signs. It takes a minute to figure it out and by this time I have turned again, but not sure if it was right, so I go and make a U-turn and wait for Mom’s reply. Dad is having a fit that I am doing this. Mom finds the route and we make another U-turn and are basically back where we were a few minutes ago, but now I KNOW we are heading in the right direction. Again Dad is having a fit that we wasted time. I told him we had no where to be tonight and we’ll be just fine.

I started to worry a bit then. Dad was going to be alone for 3 days and he couldn’t even find his way out of the airport. I sure hoped this wasn’t going to lead to another “mishap”.

 

We made great time traveling to the port area. We saw the damage left by the storms as we drove. There were trees uprooted everywhere. Though I must add, though it looked bad, you could tell that the roots are not very deep on these trees.

As we approached the Port Area you could see a Carnival Ship docked and all lit up. It was very pretty.

I think we got to Residence Inn in just over an hour. The route is pretty empty, with not many exciting looking exits. It is a toll road, and I had brought a little change bag full of quarters. Dads job was to fish them out to me as we approached a booth. Of course there were a few arguments about which booth to go to at times.

 

We arrived at Residence Inn around 7:40. I ran in to check us in. Mom was starving and told me to find a place to eat. Check in was a breeze. I noticed that we had just missed the “free” supper they had offered that night. It closed at 7:30. But that was fine. I think it was just burgers.

The desk clerk told me to go to Fish Lips. I had read about this place and the reviews seemed good. He gave me a map, and drew a line for the route.

 

Looks pretty easy, doesn’t it?

 

 

I ran back out to the van and told everyone which direction our room was, but we decided to eat first. Here is another “mishap” that I am so happy didn’t turn out bad. This van had the gear shift on the dash….really? the dash? This was very weird to me. When I got out, I had never put it in park. The van was STILL in drive when I got in. Thank goodness it didn’t move an inch. My Dad was amazed that it had just sat still the whole time.

I found this gear shifter thing to be a pain the whole trip and this isn’t the only incident I had with it.

 

I hand the map to Dad and take off without really reading it myself. I ask Dad which road I need to turn on. He can’t see. It’s dark, and we can’t find the light to turn on for him. Mom says she can’t see in the dark either. I could see it, but not drive at the same time. It was kind of comical. I just kept saying, give me a name of the road, and no one could. I was sure I had past it as we got into a very unpopulated area about 2 miles down the road. I pulled over. Looked at the map and sure enough it was the road I thought it was and had passed a ways back. So we turned around and made our way there.

There were several places lined up along the water, but we eventually found it and found a parking space NOT too far away.

 

We were seated right away.

 

 

 

Our table was right next to a big window and we could look out and see the water and the big Carnival ship.

 

 

Claire and I walked outside to look at the water. Our table was right next to the door. It was fairly warm out, but very windy.

A server was walking by out there and offered to take our picture. I said sure and switched the settings on my camera and handed over the SLR with a little uneasiness.

I smiled while he tried to put the Carnival ship in the background. I wanted him to just hurry up. I didn’t want him to drop my camera. I knew the ship wouldn’t really show up anyways. A couple of older gentleman walked by and one told the server he would take it because he was a former professional photographer. That made me a feel a little more at ease. He actually held the camera safely.

He asked me what settings I use, and I told him usually manual, but I had set it to auto for the other guy. He set it to P and turned the flash on and tried a couple of shots. The pictures weren’t that great, but it was still nice to get a picture taken with Claire.

 

 

We talked a bit about photography and he gave me some of his opinions. It was a nice chat. Claire and I then went back in and our food still hadn’t come.

I decided to walk out to the van and get my phone that I left out there. On the way in I took this picture of Claire on my phone and texted it to family and friends.

 

I’m not to good with the camera phone. I can’t figure out how to make the flash work, so this picture is pretty awful.

 

 

After running out to the van for the phone and a quick picture, Claire and I went back into the restaurant and our food had arrived.

 

 

 

After we ate and were nice and full we headed back to Residence Inn, which was very close and easy to find.

 

 

We parked and made our way to our room. Claire, Mom and I got in the elevator, but Dad didn’t for some strange reason. Mom worried he would have no clue where the room was, so I rode the elevator back down to fetch him. He was gone, so I assumed he found his way. I went to the room and sure enough he was there.

The room was nice, but nothing fancy. But it was very roomy and good a for a nights stay.

We walked in to a living room area with a kitchen as well.

 

 

The couch pulled out into a bed. I was told it was the most UNCOMFORTABLE thing ever. Sleeping on the floor might’ve been better. I had booked a room like this because we figured Claire would sleep on the couch bed. (back when Skip was coming) I think next time I will just book 2 queens since the couch bed was so awful.

 

 

We had a separate bedroom that had a king bed in it. Claire and I slept here. This bed was the MOST comfortable bed I have EVER slept on. It was like paradise laying on it.

 

 

The bathroom was right off the bedroom.

 

 

After we checked out the room a bit, I asked Claire if she wanted to go for a walk and check out the grounds. She wanted to swim, but I told her it was most likely closed due to the storm or time, but we would look. Mom decided to join us.

 

 

The pool was closed. I’m not sure of the reason though, because one side had cones and caution tape too.

 

 

I suppose that this would be a “mishap” in Claire’s mind.

 

I snapped some pictures here and there.

 

 

 

A few of the lobby.

 

 

 

And out by the fire. It was pretty.

 

 

 

 

We then headed back to the room and gave Claire a bath. I wanted to call Skip again, so Claire and I went for another walk and gave him a call. We walked around the whole building about 3 times and Claire thought that was the neatest thing.

Skip told me that one of his friends was calling him every time I updated on facebook and telling him what we were doing. LOL! (Skip doesn’t do facebook, or really computers for that matter)

 

We laid down around 11 Pm and it took about another 30 minutes or so for Claire to go to sleep. We watched the news and they said the storm that had come through that day was the worst one since 1992. Finally we both fell asleep on the most comfy bed ever!

[Lenaapple1974]

Hi again! Great to see you started posting your trip! I look forward to the rest. So far...great stuff. Your daughter got so big! I love your detailed stories and pictures. I also bring several cameras on my trips. I also love the camera upgrade. (I am a camera/photo geek - lol) I myself am upgrading this week before our trip in June/July! Actually, I switched from a Nikon D90 to the Canon 7D! I am so excited, I cannot wait til it arrives!!! It has been a nerve wracking few weeks, but it will all be worth it in the end. OMG... hopefully you find your missing card. That is the second thing I worry about with my photos on a trip. The first is my camera breaking. As we all know - that has happened to me already! Second is a lost card. I now bring my laptop with me, and back up the photos at the end of each day. I take so many pictures on vacation, I would be crushed. Who knows..maybe someone will find it, see the pics and find you! There was a story recently in the news here where there was a roll (or rolls) of film found. The person who found them developed them and posted them online to search for the owner, and it made its way back to the person who took the pics! TPR is well known, and maybe, just maybe someone will find it.

 

Can't wait to see the rest of your trip!

[Teacups Make Me Sick]

I saw the title of this thread....then I saw that this was yours.....and I couldn't wait to get time outside of work to read this. I absolutely love reading your report(s). They are really like reading a book they are so well detailed.

 

I have a question.....are those letters that Claire receives from Disney (or mom)?

[jenseib]

Hi again! Great to see you started posting your trip! I look forward to the rest. So far...great stuff. Your daughter got so big! I love your detailed stories and pictures. I also bring several cameras on my trips. I also love the camera upgrade. (I am a camera/photo geek - lol) I myself am upgrading this week before our trip in June/July! Actually, I switched from a Nikon D90 to the Canon 7D! I am so excited, I cannot wait til it arrives!!! It has been a nerve wracking few weeks, but it will all be worth it in the end. OMG... hopefully you find your missing card. That is the second thing I worry about with my photos on a trip. The first is my camera breaking. As we all know - that has happened to me already! Second is a lost card. I now bring my laptop with me, and back up the photos at the end of each day. I take so many pictures on vacation, I would be crushed. Who knows..maybe someone will find it, see the pics and find you! There was a story recently in the news here where there was a roll (or rolls) of film found. The person who found them developed them and posted them online to search for the owner, and it made its way back to the person who took the pics! TPR is well known, and maybe, just maybe someone will find it.

 

Can't wait to see the rest of your trip!

 

My old SLR broke right after our lat trip to Disney. It was going to cost at least $250 to fix, it, so I got the 50D then.

I did bring my laptop, but it is Vista, which I hate and find very confusing. I tried to load some pictures on it and it wouldn't do it. It just kept saying the camera was busy. So I went into the "my computer" part and saw the pictures, but couldn't figure out how to get them transfered to my photos section. I have played with it since I have been home, and I "think" if I would've copied them to my documents area I would've at least had them. Lesson learned there. I am kicking myself every day.

[jenseib]

I saw the title of this thread....then I saw that this was yours.....and I couldn't wait to get time outside of work to read this. I absolutely love reading your report(s). They are really like reading a book they are so well detailed.

 

I have a question.....are those letters that Claire receives from Disney (or mom)?

 

Thanks so much. I am glad yo uenjoy them. I need to find more time in a day to work on it though. Plus read other reports.

 

Those lettters are from me, but she truely beleives that Disney characters are leaving them for her. In fact a few times this trip, I would forget to leave them out in the morning and she would panic that they forgot her. I told her that they were probably busy and it would show up later...and then one would miraculously appear on a bed.

[jenseib]

I awoke from my comfy bed and was feeling refreshed, so I looked at the clock. WHAT!!!! I had only been asleep for about 2 ½ hours. I still had many MORE hours to sleep. I laid back down, but my mind was racing.

I got up and looked out the window. I could see the Carnival ship off in the distance from my window if I turned just right. How neat!... So I took a really bad picture of it.

 

 

If you are having a hard time seeing it is on the left side of the picture, all lit up.

 

I went back and laid down. Mom came in after awhile to use the bathroom and wanted to know why I was up. I told her I couldn’t sleep. She told me she had a dream that I got very sick and had to go the Hospital, so she and Claire went on the cruise without me. Basically the same kind of dreams I have been having as well.

 

I dozed off and on, but never really a deep sleep. I would have dreams that we weren’t allowed on the ship because we had Birth Certificates. Or that we didn’t have official Birth Certificates. All those crazy dreams that you can’t seem to steer your mind away from. I just wanted to get on the ship and get going already!

 

I would get up every so often and look out the window. Nothing new. I had hoped to catch a glimpse of the Dream docked, but if it was, I couldn’t see it.

 

At 5 AM I looked out the window once again. What’s that I see off in the distance?

 

 

I KNEW EXACTLY what that was. It was a moving ship and I could almost see a glowing Mickey on it!!! It was HER!!! The Dream was pulling into port. I quickly grabbed my camera and took several bad pictures! LOL! I was like a kid at Christmas. It was just so exciting!

 

 

I was amazed at how close the water really was!

 

 

And I couldn’t believe how HUGE the ship was!

 

 

It was such a beautiful sight!

 

 

I heard something then and popped out from behind the curtain. Mom was standing there. She had been on her way to the bathroom and wondered where I was. I quickly told her the ship was pulling in to Port and she came over to have a look. We were both excited now! Then we heard a little voice. Claire wanted to know what we were doing, so we invited her in behind the curtain to take a look as well.

 

 

I took a quick photo with my phone and sent it to facebook. Let’s just say that photo was not good and you couldn’t even tell what it was. LOL!

 

Soon the ship faded in the distance. I guess where it docks cannot be seen from my window.

 

We all laid back down and Claire was soon back to sleep. I, on the other hand could NOT sleep at all now. I was too excited. After trying and tossing and turning, I just gave up. I got up and showered and got ready to start the day.

 

I went down for some breakfast in the lobby. It was decent food and I was amazed at how many people were already up and ready to go.

 

After I ate I walked around a bit and took a few pictures.

 

 

As you can see, it is still very dark out.

 

 

 

I went back to the room then and got on my laptop for a bit and checked my emails.

[Hotlanta]

Excellent start & can't wait to see the Dream pics.

[jenseib]

Excellent start & can't wait to see the Dream pics.

 

Thanks. I'm a little slow going right now. But I will get her posted as soon as I can

[Lenaapple1974]

I am like a drug addict. Every time someone posts something, I am running here to see if you have your newest update!

[jenseib]

I am like a drug addict. Every time someone posts something, I am running here to see if you have your newest update!

 

Gonna post another small one just for you!

[jenseib]

Mom woke up around 7:15 and took her shower. After she got ready, it was Dad’s turn. Not long after, Little Miss Claire woke up. She had a gift waiting for her from Donald.

 

 

 

 

She received a new Tinkerbelle bathing suite.

 

 

We got Claire dressed and ready for the big day.

The forecast was for rain. It didn’t look to bad outside at this point and time.

 

 

The weathermen couldn’t seem to decide if it was going to be storms sweeping through quickly, all day rain, or all day storms. I swear they would change their minds every few minutes.

We then headed down for breakfast. My 2nd breakfast of the day, but it had been a couple hours since I ate the 1st one.

 

 

 

 

 

There was a family sitting next to us, a couple with a baby. This baby was so stinking cute. She had this tongue thing going when they fed her and it was hilarious. They were going on the cruise as well and we actually ran into to them several times on the ship.

 

With our bellies full, we walked back towards the room. Of course I took a few pictures on the way.

 

 

 

Back at the room we tagged our luggage that would be going on the ship. Claire and I hauled them out to the van.

 

 

 

We called Skip and he told us that the news station he was watching was saying that Sea World may be closing due to storms.

We went back to the room for another load of luggage and Dad said the local news were saying that if you had a Disney Day planned to wait till the storms past, as they were going to bad.

 

Claire and I finished loading the van and took one more walk around the hotel.

 

 

 

It was a little before 10 AM now. We saw many people loading their vehicles as well. Many were dressed in Disney attire. Claire and I decided we should head over to the port now, a little earlier than we had planned. We went back up to the room and gathered up Mom and Dad and were on our merry way to the Terminal!

[Lenaapple1974]

Thank you! I very much enjoyed that.

The anticipation is building. I cannot wait to see the line you encounter while waiting to be let into the terminal. I heard it can get pretty long!

[jenseib]

Thank you! I very much enjoyed that.

The anticipation is building. I cannot wait to see the line you encounter while waiting to be let into the terminal. I heard it can get pretty long!

 

OK, I can answer that for you now. Another small installmetn up next!

[jenseib]

I drove over to the Terminal. It was very close and signs directed you exactly where to go, but it was really hard to pay attention to signs when the big beautiful ship came into view!!!!

I couldn’t take a picture as I was driving, but let me tell you, it was gorgeous. We were ALL in awe and the excitement went a level higher. I think I just kept saying “look how big it is!”

I parked along the drop off/pick up spot and we unloaded what we needed. We gave 3 bags to the porter and I tipped the guy, I think somewhere between $6 and $10. Dad asked the guy where he should pick us up Sunday and he said the same place.

We said our good byes and made sure Dad had his maps. Dad then headed off to Kennedy Space Center.

We made our way to the terminal. Again I didn’t have my camera out and we walked really fast. I did manage to snap one picture on my phone before going in.

 

 

 

When you walk in on the ground floor you go through security just like at the airport. No full body scanners though, and you don’t have to bag your liquids. But everything comes off like at the airport. (though I don’t think we had to take our shoes off). Only about 3 people ahead of us!

There was a stack of pizzas coming in right behind us. The pizzas didn’t have to go through x-ray, but the delivery person did. I know I made some smart remark to the person, like “Oh thanks I’ve been waiting for those”.

After security we made our way upstairs. At the top of the stairs there was a guy at a high table/booth type thing. We stopped there and he had us fill out papers to state that none of us were sick.

We also got our boarding number here. It was number 8, which I was happy about. I have heard there a different ways they determine which number you get. One being that when you preregister online and pick an arrival time, that will coincide with your boarding number. For us this was not true. There was just a stack of cards and the guy just took the one off the top and handed it to us.

 

I took a quick picture of Claire on my phone.

 

 

We then went to check in.

 

 

 

I was nervous about the Birth Certificates and prayed nothing would go wrong. We went to the line and there was basically NO line at all. We were pointed to one of the CM’s and we went right over and handed over our paperwork. Everything looked fine and they took a picture of each us. The CM was very friendly and full of excitement. We were handed our KTTW cards and on our way.

 

We saw that Mickey had come out for a meet and greet, so Claire and I got into line. Mom took a look at the line and basically said no way, so Mom took our carry on and found a spot to sit.

 

 

Mom was out of sight for awhile. We couldn’t see where she was sitting, but we needed something from one of the bags she had (might’ve been the autograph book.)

After a bit she came back over (I think I actually called her). We got what we needed and she went and sat back down.

 

 

I took some random shots while waiting.

 

 

The archway was jammed packed the whole time. I could never get a chance to take a decent shot.

 

 

It was pretty crowded in the terminal, though I have to admit it wasn’t quite as bad as I had imagined it would be. None the less, there was still a LOT of people in there.

[jenseib]

It was finally OUR turn to see Mickey. I am one of “those” people who take a zillion pictures when their kid meets a character…as you soon will see.

 

 

 

 

And a posed picture

 

 

And this is what the ships photographer took.

 

 

 

 

 

And then he took one with my camera as well.

 

 

After that I walked around and took a shot of the display model ship. It was again hard to get any pictures of it. It always had several people admiring it.

 

 

 

Claire and I then got in line to get her bracelet for the kids club. The line was kind of long, but it moved fast.

 

 

If I remember right, Goofy walked by while we were in line. I don’t know if he was just strolling around or doing a meet and greet. I think he was just strolling.

 

 

While we were in line I shot this peek out the window.

 

 

Minnie went whooshing by as we were standing in line as well. She and Mickey kept trading out about every half hour.

 

 

I swear every time I looked at Mom she was talking to another CM.

 

 

We made it up to the counter and it was a breeze again there too. Basically they asked Claire’s name, tapped a few keys on the computer and got her a bracelet to put on. The CM we had there was very friendly and you could tell he really liked working for Disney. He talked a lot about Disney Magic.

 

After that we decided to walk out to the observation deck to look at the ship. And guess what? About 2 minutes after we walk out there it starts to rain. Not hard, but enough to be annoying. Looks like a “mishap” to me! We stood under an overhang and I shot a few pictures.

 

 

 

I took this with my phone and texted it to family and friends.

 

 

 

 

 

At times I thought the rain was going to let up, but it didn’t. We gave up and went back inside then.

 

A few more before we walked in.

 

 

 

When we went back inside I took a few more shots. I tried once more for the arch, but it was crowded up there again. I had no idea that people would actually stand around this area the whole time…..but they did.

 

 

 

 

Claire had to go potty so we made our way over there. Mom took her in while I stayed with the bags. I gave Skip another call to tell him about the day so far. As I was talking to him they announced that boarding was starting. It was a recorded announcement and it said something like numbers 1-6 could board. I thought WOW! A TON of people stood up to head to the front. Another announcement was then made, by a live person. The announcement was wrong. They were only boarding 1 (and maybe 2). I finished up the call with Skip and told him I would try to call one more time later before we set sail.

Mom came out with Claire and it was my turn. Let’s just say the terminal bathrooms are not very magical. They weren’t the worst I have seen, but they were not in Disney style.

 

We found a seat and waited to be called. We knew we would never miss our number because Claire was so excited and listened to every announcement made. She was keeping track of it all for us!

I think I pulled out my Navigator for the first time here and took a look at some things I wanted to do, or at least try to do.

 

 

 

 

 

I took a few more random shots while waiting for our number to be called.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claire is still listening for our number.

 

 

 

And FINALLY it is called. I can’t remember the exact time, but I want to say it was around 12:30. Maybe a little later, but not much.

 

We worked our way to the Big Mickey Arch. Let me tell you, that was a chore. People are standing there waiting for there number and not allowing the ones called to get through. What’s the purpose of this? I basically said excuse me over and over and pushed our way through. It was the only way to do it.

It was so exciting though, so I didn’t let it bother me at all. I just thought it was dumb. I wish the CM’s would actually come up to them and tell them to move.

We scanned our KTTW card and stopped off for a picture.

 

 

We had two taken, and actually we all look better in the other EXCEPT that Mom has her eyes closed in that one.

 

We are now about to enter the DREAM!!!!!!!

 

[jenseib]

There were a few people in front of us before we could board. Mom told me just to have them say my last name, which is what I was going to do anyways.

 

Then it was OUR turn. A CM asked what the last name was, and I told them. They then announced…..” The Hot Sexy Chicks” family! ….. Ok, really they said my last name.

 

And we walked in to the most beautiful place ever.

 

 

A CM meets up with you and tells you where you can get lunch, and I “think” he asked if we had questions, but honestly I was in such AWE, that I can’t remember pretty much anything he said.

 

You just want to look UP!

 

 

 

Once we snapped back to our senses I looked to the right and saw Guest Services. No one standing in line, so I decided to go over and leave off the pillow case and tote bag that we wanted to have signed by the characters. I also put some money on my account.

 

 

 

We had a nice CM help us. She told me that each cabin was only allowed 2 items to be signed. We had only 2 so we were fine, but it made me wonder…What about the cabins that held 5 people, and if they had 3 kids? Didn’t really seem fair that only 2 could be signed if you had 3 children in a cabin. She also told me when I was applying money to my account that only cash could be taken then. If I had gift cards (which I did want to apply eventually) it would have to be after 6 PM. Not sure why.

 

This beautiful chair is right near Guest Services. Of course I had to have Claire pose.

 

 

I think her thoughts were more on the line of “hurry up and get this over with”.

 

 

Isn’t the mosaic pretty.

 

 

Claire was very taken with the Grand Staircase. Who wouldn’t be?

 

 

Look at the detail around the staircase.

 

 

We went up the stairs and started walking towards the back of the ship. I knew that Cabanas was at the back and up a few decks.

There is that Carnival ship right out the window.

 

 

 

Hmmmmm? Did the rain stop?

 

We stopped for some pictures in front of the windows.

 

 

As you can see I was not paying attention to what I was shooting and actually focused on the ship out the window instead of Mom and Claire!!!

 

 

 

We walked by D Lounge. They have a neat sign out by it that tells you the activities going on. We never actually made it inside of here, but walked by it several times.

 

 

 

 

 

After those shots we continued on our way down the hall.

 

We now entered the District area. This is the area with all the bars. We walked through here many times as well, but never actually came and had a drink or enjoyed any entertainment. It was very neat looking though.

 

 

 

Must follow the Star path!

 

 

“Come on Mom! You are going to slow!”

 

 

 

 

We reached the back of the ship and made our way up a few decks to Cabanas.

 

 

There was a slight line up, but it moved fast. As you walk in the CM’s hand you a sanitizer wipe for you hands. Another CM will ask how many in your group and then seat you at a table.

 

 

This was our view. On a sunny day it would be an excellent view. Today it was a drizzly view. I’m not complaining, but it would’ve been extra nice to have the sun out.

 

 

Looks like the rain is back!

 

I went up and got Claire’s food first. The buffet seemed endless. It went on forever.

 

 

 

 

I went up and got my food then.

 

 

And then Mom took her turn.

 

After we filled up on the main courses we also got a few desserts.

 

 

This was an awning/shade type thing on the top of the windows.

 

 

It was now about 1:40ish. We decided to finish up and head to see if our room was ready.

 

Before we left Cabanas, I asked a server what was going to happen with the Sail Away party if the rain continued. He said he had no clue. He had been working with Disney since Sept and had never had a rainy departure day. I knew that something would be done, and I was sure at some point and time we would be told.

 

We went out of the back of Cabanas and down a few flights of stairs to Deck 7 where our room 7666 was. Just right around the corner too. We were surprised to find one of my bags was already waiting for us outside the door.

Mom got a little worried that her bag wasn’t there yet. I assured her that this was early and it could still take a few hours for it to arrive.

The room was gorgeous for a cruise ship room. Everything was new and looked fresh. I was amazed at how roomy it was as well. Not a big room in hotel standards, but in cruise hip standards this room was a very nice size. And the verandah looked awesome!

 

I quickly pulled out the camera and shot a few pictures.

 

 

This is looking at the door.

 

 

The door on the left is for an adjoining room. Obviously we didn’t use that door at all.

 

 

The couch.

 

 

View of the port from our veranda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lamp

 

 

Guess who decided to pop in front of me when I try to shoot the bathroom!

This is one of the split bathrooms. This side has a sink and a shower/tub combo. I was impressed with how big the tub actually was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to take pictures of the other bathroom, the one with the toilet, but the light didn’t work. I called about it and they said they would send someone to fix it. It was working when we came back later. I don’t think I ever did end up taking pictures of that side then…but maybe I’ll find them later if I did.

 

 

 

Obviously by the time on the clock, I didn’t take this picture when we were in the room at that time. I must’ve taken it the next day. It was on the waterproof camera. I have no clue why I used it for this, except maybe testing it out.

 

 

[Lenaapple1974]

Awesome details! Thanks for posting little by little and not keeping your fans waiting!

[jenseib]

Awesome details! Thanks for posting little by little and not keeping your fans waiting!

 

AHHHH! The pressure is on!

[jenseib]

We unpacked a bit from what we had in the room with us so far. Claire and I decorated our door with magnets. I put out our Fish Extender.

 

 

Sadly I don’t think I ever took a picture of our door with the magnets or fish extender.

I took a look at the Navigator and saw that the Port shopping talk was going to start soon. I told Mom that we were going to go see it and she wanted to come as well. We looked on our ship map to see where The Buena Vista Theatre was, and made our way there.

 

I took a few shots as we passed the Atrium again.

 

 

 

 

And another shot. I just couldn’t stop taking pictures of it.

 

 

On our way again!

 

I have no clue where this was….or what it was, but it looks pretty…even though I took it crooked.

 

 

We entered The Buena Vista Theatre from the top level on deck 5. But they had all the handouts at the deck 4 entrance, so I went back and picked those flyers up.

 

 

 

 

 

Evidently I have bad balance or I am lopsided…here’s another crooked picture.

 

 

Soon Whitney started. She talked a lot about where to find jewelry. We oohed and ahhed. She would through out freebies, but honestly she mostly handed them to the same people in the front row. I was getting a little sleepy. Evidently Whitney has a soothing voice. I was actually starting to nod off and would catch myself. I didn’t think I could last much longer. I moved around in my seat and tried to stay awake, but it just wasn’t going to happen. I looked at Claire and she looked bored to tears…my escape! LOL! I asked her if she had to go potty and she said yes, very badly. I told Mom we were leaving and I was taking Claire potty and we would meet up with her later.

 

Once I got moving I felt back to normal. In search of a bathroom we came across Chip and Dale roaming around. This was not an actual meet and greet and it was hard to get a picture with them, as they just kept moving along. I actually didn’t like this. So many people would crowd the characters and try for a picture (who wouldn’t?) and it made it a little less magical to me.

 

Some kids were able to snag an autograph so Claire got her book out, but they never did sign hers.

 

 

I was able to take a very quick shot of Claire with Dale though. It was hard though as people were crowding and I just lifted the camera and snapped.

 

 

We then asked a nearby CM where the nearest bathroom was. He directed us and off we went. Now this may sound funny…but WOW. The bathrooms are so cool on the ship!

 

 

 

 

We headed out and decided to work our way back to the room.[/b]

[jenseib]

We went through the Atrium and I took a couple of shots of the elevator.

 

 

 

We saw Goofy and Pluto out for meet and greets. Claire decided to get in line for Pluto.

 

 

 

The line wasn’t too long at all.

 

 

 

 

 

Pluto played a little with Claire.

 

 

 

 

 

Claire decided she did not want to wait for Goofy. We headed up to the top. I wanted to see what the rain situation was. …Still raining. I did take a few shots between raindrops though.

 

I got my first look at the AquaDuck!

 

 

And the cute Mickey Slide

 

 

 

 

We then headed back to the room where we met Mom. Another one of my bags had been delivered. Mom said she had seen us in the Atrium and had hollered, but we never heard her.

 

The Muster drill had been delayed to 4:30. Mom said she had heard someone knock and run away while we were gone. So we took a look at our Fish Extender, and sure enough we had a treat! Claire was very excited. We decided to make our deliveries then as well.

We took our bag and list an went on our way while Mom stayed in the room.

One thing to remember while doing this…bring a pen! I didn’t and then I couldn’t mark off who we had delivered to and it made it a bit confusing. Another note, don’t use cheap dollar store bags to fill. Mine were ripping apart as I pulled each one out.

I was amazed at how long the hallways were. We just kept walking and walking and walking, and you would think you were at the end, then it would do a little jog over and it would be just as long again. This ship was HUGE!

We made all the deliveries. One room did not have their FE out yet, and I set the bag on the floor next to the room. I hope they did get it.

This is some of the stuff I put in the bag. I added a few more small things after I had taken this picture.

 

 

We headed back to the room and decided to head down to Evolutions for the Muster Drill. As we opened the door there was someone standing there. It was lilliansmommy, Kelly and her DD Lilly, passing out their FE gifts. We said a quick hi and she even remembered that Mom was taking Skip’s place. She was really nice and Lilly was a doll. And she had on one of the same dresses I had brought along on the trip for Claire too.

 

After our little meet, we all headed down to Evolutions. This was the one and only time I ever went in there, but it looked like a neat place.

We found a seat and waited. We had to listen to instructions and what to do in an emergency, etc. They had to check off everyone’s name. We then found out that they were still waiting for more people to board the ship yet. Because of the storms many planes were delayed and so they were holding off on sailing till they got there. I assume because they had Disney transportation is why we waited. We also found out that the wind had been so strong at one point during the day that many passengers had to board on deck 1 (right off the dock) because it was not safe to go in the gateway. I actually heard a few people grumble about it here and there, so I guess it was not a very magical experience.

Again, there was a lot of sitting and I had to fight to stay awake a few times. Once they got the drill going I was back awake again. And they played the emergency tone of the horn, and that would wake anyone up!

Once we finished up there we were free to go. The Sail Away party was now scheduled for 5 in the Atrium. We decided to head that way and get a spot.

 

We entered the Atrium on the 3rd level and decided to just stand against the railing there. Claire kind of complained that she wouldn’t be able to see the stage, but I had a feeling that many of the characters were going to be on the 2nd level, and I was right!

 

Of course while you wait for the show to start, you take some random shots!

 

 

This carpet was on the 2nd tier balcony. This is where I figured part of the show would be as they had it roped off.

 

 

And trying for some artsy shot of the chandelier, but again, I am slightly crooked.

 

 

 

 

More details around the stairs and balconies.

 

 

I spotted Kelly and Lily in the crowd on the main floor and took a couple of shots of them as well. I won’t post those here though.

 

Soon the show started. I did take some video of it as well…and we all know that that card is sadly lost in Wonderland somewhere.

 

A CM had gone around and handed out shaker sticks with little Pom Poms on the end. We got blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daisy was right below us!

 

 

 

 

The party was fun, though I suspect it was either altered and/or shortened.

They had a countdown during the song and then the ships horn plays. I believe it played “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes”. It was so exciting to hear the horn.

We had a good time.

We then made our way back to our room to get changed. One tip I give you. The elevators are always jammed packed after any kind of party. So if you are going down, take the stairs! That’s what we did anytime we had to go down a couple decks…..going up is a little harder on the body though.