Trip Report COMPLETED:The “who told him about the panoramic setting on his phone?” Surf n’ Turf Anniversary trip

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Trip Report Table of contents (this will grow as I add to the TR)
Our Room
MK day one
Flag retreat
Jiko
HS part one
HS part two
Watto's Grotto
HS part three
Brown Derby Lounge
AKL 1-bedroom, room 5135
A rainy Boardwalk
Shula's Steak House
AK part one
AK part two
Trails End lunch
MK again part one with Casey's
A Pirate's Adventure
Kona Cafe and The Dream at first sight
Disney Dream Boarding
Disney Dream room 7528
Setting Sail and room service
Dream Shopping and Mirror Mirror
Animator's Palate
Evolution Match Your Mate and Cabanas breakfast
Senses/Rainforest
Nassau from Senses
District Lounge Tequila Class
More DVC swag and meeting friends on the way to Palo
Palo
Pirates Night Fireworks
Castaway Cay 5K
Serenity Bay & BBQ
More of Castaway
Shopping and spouts
Midship Detective Agency
Royal Palace Dinner
Royal Palace Breakfast and Disembarking
Bay Lake Tower Room 7514
Citricos and Wishes from BLT
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All the covert pains in futility leading up to this ball of awesomeness can be had here:
Those banked points aren’t going to use themselves Part II: Code Name DMCA
You may or may not be happy to know that I’ve finally gotten past the pains of Operation DMCA failing at the hands of DCL. DCL’s inability to keep a secret allowed the DW to plan and draw out a long sense of anticipation and excitement, but I digress we’re here to move forward…right?

Flashback to September 15th, it’s time to blow this pop stand! I made every effort to load the car up as much the night before to reduce the scrambling we would have to do this morning. We had but two or three small bags to deal with still. While we were finishing up with the small bags the DD walks in and notices I’m packing the Magic Bands and TiW card. Mind you, she knew we were going on this cruise AND that we were staying at AKL before the boat. It wasn’t until this moment, though, that it hit her we would be visiting the parks too! She let out a “you’re going to the parks too!” which we delicately told her “yes we are”. I mean, hello! APs + three nights in AKL = “We going to the parks girl”. Obviously, I didn’t put it that way to her I was just surprised she hadn’t put it together that we would be visiting the parks. She would later call me that day to tell me that it “took her all morning to get over the devastation of us going to the parks without her”. Wow, punch in the gut right there! But moving on, the car is packed, we load up the DD, and head to the bus stop at 06:45 and wouldn’t you know the bus driver is early, almost as if that crotchety old guy knew we had places to be! So a quick hug and kiss goodbye and the DD is on the bus and the DW and I are Disney bound by 06:50, ten minutes ahead of schedule! The ATL, however, would soon squash my excitement. So after a QuickTrip visit in Dawsonville we got smashed in the face by probably the worst traffic east of California. What normally take 18 minutes, at 6AM, to get from North perimeter to south perimeter takes us an hour and twenty minutes! I was not happy to say the least but also not surprised, just foolishly optimistic. Once we hit 75 on the south side it was smooooth sailings all the way to the bubble! A few hours later and we were crossing the line:

Seeing this sign always triggers that “Final Countdown” feeling in my head while the band Europe starts jamming out subconsciously. I’ve noted this in previous TRs but it’s worth point out again; SunPass is awesome! I fully regret not adopting the SunPass a lot sooner. It can be hard to express the feeling of joy while one just cruises through all those toll stops, ahhhhh. While I was enjoying the ease of SunPass I got “The Text”! You know, the room is ready! So the final countdown was short and despite the high levels of excitement we had arrived at the bubble and it was soon that our gaze fell upon the sign:

I promise I was a good Disney citizen and did not stop to snap this picture. A few minutes later and we were arriving home!

I always love seeing this sign and hearing the CM’s welcoming us home when we arrive! Another thing I love, specifically about Jambo, is as soon as you pass through those sliding doors you’re hit with one of the most beautiful scents ever. The wood burning fragrance is all around you in the lobby and it works! Speaking of the lobby, I’ve been to all the deluxe lobbies and I still don’t think there is one that rivals AKL, I am biased of course

Coming up: $88 gets you what?

 

[MinnieM123]

Enjoyed your nice assortment of pictures, as it cheered me up after a stressful day of work today. I think I'd rather be doing what you're doing on the cruise, than going to work! Really, reading your TR was a fun diversion that I needed tonight. Many thanks.

 

[cfry06]

Margaritas looked good - not sure I could have handled the shots!! Shuddering looking at them
Somehow we missed the DVC event on the 2nd day! Will have to remember that.
Love the selfie session pre-Palo! Selfie sesh a must . You guys look great!
Whew...castaway 5k. The hottest little race there ever was!

 

[lostpro9het]

So when we finally stopped taking selfies we found ourselves at Palo.

We were immediately seated in front of the windows, one table over from last year actually.

The restaurant was half full or less. I’m guessing Pirates is more important than I thought! Anyway, it was right after our waiter took our drink orders when I noticed a couple walk by heading to their table. Nothing out of the ordinary other than the 3 foot selfie stick being held out in front of the dude documenting their journey to their table…. I was worried I was in the wrong place for a moment when I looked down to have my plate confirm I was in the right place….

I wonder if a day will come when the park ban hits the boats. Not a minute later after seeing Captain SelfieStick did our first round of appetizers arrive.

We opted for a bottle of Chianti Classico today. The wine was very good. I did, however, make the mistake of reaching for the bottle during the course of the evening to pour another glass when from out of the shadows came Ninja Sean. He half scolded me by saying “no, no, no, you mustn’t pour the wine” while taking the bottle from me and pouring. I wasn’t offended in the least but my first thought was “Where the hell did you come from!?!?!?” We then proceeded to have a conversation of how my name is Sean too and I’m glad he was spelling his the right way. I looked away for a second and Ninja Sean faded into the setting sun only to reappear when the wine glasses got low…

The next round of appetizers arrived. The DW went with the Tuscan white bean soup with prosciutto and Parmesan cheese. It was awesome and I regretted not getting it myself. I went with something safer, the mozzarella and plum tomatoes.

The sun was starting to set when they brought out the palate cleansers

Palates refreshed, we were ready for the mains! DW went with the wild mushroom risotto and I played it safe with the Palo with a catch. I requested a sampling of the braised beef ravioli because that also looked good, and it was!

Like last year, Palo didn’t disappoint for us. Having a quiet night away from kids with a fantastic view of the ocean while you dine is worth it for us, plus the food aint so bad either! Of course we’re not done though. We ordered our soufflés when we ordered our mains so they would be out in a timely fashion. While we were enjoying our coffee they also brought out the “Anniversary Plate”

This was quickly followed by our soufflés.

And finally to wrap up the Palo experience is the after dinner drinks

Thoroughly pleased, we were ready to make for our room to see what to do next. On the way, though, I remembered to grab a pic of the spaghetti and meatballs.

But before we made the trek to the stateroom nature had called. This was the first time I got to experience the Palo/Remy facilities. Like most everything else on the Dream they spared no expense with detail

Still to come: A Pirates Life, Disney “Art”, and some things that go boom!

 

[lostpro9het]

So after a great time at Palo we decided to head back to the room to change and see what was happening before the fireworks were to be set off. We “A Pirate’s Life” was listed and figured what the heck, let’s go check it out. Before we left, though, we had to snap a picture of tonight’s towel art. I’ll take it over the creepy skinned chicken that was hanging there last time!

We caught some junior pirate action along the way.

It wasn’t long before we arrived, one of the first ones too.

We took our place as pirate wall flowers far away from the volunteer reach request. The seats were pretty comfy as you can see here by the DW who was dosing off…

So volunteers were called and the swashbuckling had begun. It was pretty funny with enough adult humor to keep the moms and dads happy, just like Mirror Mirror.

After that we leisurely made our way to top deck for the fireworks doing our best to avoid the pirate party at the family pool. We stopped off at the art gallery along the way.

I don’t know what it was about this one but I REALLY liked it but mostly for this one part.

We eventually made it to top deck and found a few chairs away from the craziness and awaited for the show, we didn’t have long to wait.

That concluded our evening as we made for our stateroom and began watching Pete’s Dragon!

Still to come: Pulling into Castaway, the flattest 5k EVER, and Serenity Bay!

 

[imahistorygeek]

I thought the music was a little subdued this time. It was still a great show, but the music could only be heard clearly at the big screen. Last year we could hear it quite clearly from our same location as this time.

I'm not even sure about what the towel animal actually is.

In reference to Pete's Dragon...we had NO IDEA there were tons of things to watch on our first trip. We thought there were only informational channels.

I highly recommend the Tuscan White Bean Soup at Palo's. It was so good!

 

[lostpro9het]

Whelp....got sidetracked this afternoon with some Disney Creep.... Our points from the DVC resale we just purchased hit our account today. With it included 50 banked points from 2014 that had to be used by March...you can probably see where this is headed. Well, we have our Christmas trip planned already, 20th -27th, you know a nice mild week in the Mouse's house. Soooooo the choice was try to rent the 50 points out...OR...you guessed it,

Well, you don't have to be a rocket surgeon to figure out what we did today... We had been checking all last week and this week but nothing had been available...until today! Just like that, availability popped up at AKL(studio), SSR(studio), and BVC(2-bdr). Choosing anyone of these would not leave enough points to rent another room at another time Soooooooo, we now have one night booked at BCV 2-BDR for the night before we were to arrive!

 

[catmom46]

OK, I am now dialing the DVC Addict support hot line for you as I type...slowly step away from your computer.

 

[imahistorygeek]

OK, I am now dialing the DVC Addict support hot line for you as I type...slowly step away from your computer.

I'm seriously hoping we hate the Poly.

 

[lostpro9het]

OK, I am now dialing the DVC Addict support hot line for you as I type...slowly step away from your computer.

I do need help don't I?

 

[catmom46]

I do need help don't I?

Yes, and admitting you have a problem is the first step, so you're well on the road to recovery.

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Oooh! So jealous!

 

[lostpro9het]

So after a great night of sleep it was time for our favorite part of the trip, Castaway Cay. We love this place. It’s so beautiful and the adult’s area is very peaceful. Today’s Castaway experience would be a new one for us. Today we take a crack at the Castaway Cay 5k! But before we get there we have to get there! We woke to a beautiful morning with some winds that wasn’t anything to be concerned about

Being the awesome hubby that I am I made the early solo trek to Cabanas while the DW slept a little more. I had to secure some lite fuel for the morning run. Along the way I noticed my DD’s dream appliance, mickey waffle makers! She’s been hounding us for over year about wanting a waffle maker, Dad just aint to keen on unitaskers in his kitchen. Who knows, this may be the year I break down.

I grabbed as healthy of options as I could think, some bananas, apples and coffee. Can’t skip the coffee, right?

While we snacked we started our approach to Castaway

All docked up it was time for us to make our way to the registration area, just so happened to be at Evolution. We queued up and got our bibs and waited to hear further instructions. It looked like many people signed up for this.

It wasn’t long before we were being herded, literally, off the boat and towards the starting line.

Now, before I go any further its worth pointing out a few things. While I don’t consider myself a runner I do run daily and have a big run at least once a week that looks like this, 5ish mile with 680 feet in elevation change

And this 5ish miles with 1007 feet in elevation change.

My DW, on the other hand, doesn’t run. We’ve tried a few times to run together but our exercise philosophies are polar opposites. I am skilled in the ways of motivating high school wrestles to push themselves but guess what, that DOES NOT carry over to motivating DWs and DDs!!! Let me also say, the DW is a Jazzercise instructor so she is plenty fit, she just doesn’t run. She is also not competitive at all, nothing wrong with that, but this is where I was a wee bit concerned about our 5k Experience. If you thought my DVC addiction was a problem you should see my competitiveness problem. Again, DW and I are polar opposites when it comes to things like sports and being competitive. I really wanted to run this together and didn’t want to leave her behind, which I didn’t, but I also didn’t want her to walk, again I have issues I know. So I was going to do my best to motivate her the best I could without making her cry again….yes, again, hence the reason we don’t run together anymore. I knew the run would be VERY flat, and it was almost like running downhill the whole time, but you also had to deal with the nasty humidity. I think it was the humidity that hurt most folks. So we got underway and the reality that the DW and I were not taking this race at the same pace was immediate. I dialed it back and did my best to be as encouraging as possible and about 32 minutes later we were done. Now, the typical person would have probably spent the next few minutes rehydrating in celebration after a successful run. NOPE! Not this fool! Rather than accentuate the positive I was thinking of how she could have shaved off two minutes of run time! Sad, I know. My DW did an AWEOME job killing that 5k and I am super proud of her accomplishment! I do regret not making a bigger deal about it at the time so now is as good a time as any. This guy was super proud that she took on that 5k in some miserable conditions with a great time, even passed a few high school boys that started out like Usain Bolt but finished well behind her! Here’s my super awesome DW after her first official 5k

With that, we made our way to Serenity Bay! Made a little pit stop to change into our swim gear.

Still to come: Serenity bay, BBQ, and our very own piece of eight!

 

[catmom46]

I am totally on DW's side here, as I absolutely HATE running! I think you need to buy her something nice (and NOT anymore DVC points).

 

[lostpro9het]

I am totally on DW's side here, as I absolutely HATE running! I think you need to buy her something nice (and NOT anymore DVC points).

To my defense, not that I have much of a leg to stand on, the 5k was her idea! Also, we made a neat purchase later this evening that you will see soon.

 

[imahistorygeek]

When he says, "so we got underway and the reality that the DW and I were not taking this race at the same pace was immediate."

What he meant to say was that he sprinted ahead of me and had to wait for me to catch up.

I’ve never been so glad to be done with something. I will say it was nice running on flat ground. Everything is a hill around here.

If you’ve ever been on the fence about it, consider doing it. You don’t have to run. There were plenty of walkers (of the non-zombie kind). My goal was the plastic medal and I got it. I almost hate they are dated because we have cruises coming up in 2016 and 2017 and the thought of doing it again has crossed my mind.

Sean mentioned the wind. I thought it would be interesting to note that Disney canceled a lot of activities involving the water. I didn’t think the wind was that big of an issue, but apparently it was.

 

[TheMouseFan]

I was really not looking to do the 5k again, but I may have to just to get that medal! It was still the really cheap plastic one when I ran it last June. I'm impressed with the 32 minutes. I had the same issues running it with my then 11 year old. He is a cross country runner and was having trouble staying behind with me. It helped that he wasn't feeling 100% the day we ran.

 

[Zipadeelady]

What's so funny about your Palo experience is that guy walking by with the selfie stick was probably thinking "why is that guy taking a picture of his dinner plate"!

 

[lostpro9het]

So after a quick wardrobe change we made for Serenity bay. Like I mentioned earlier it was a bit windy out and the water had some strong currents going on. It was mild enough to still enjoy a chair in the water. Serenity Bay was busier than before but still had plenty of seats with umbrellas to choose from. One thing we quickly realized, though, we had forgotten to do is grab towels as we exited the boat!!! Since we were in that 5k herding, we never thought to stop and grab towels! Thankfully the float rental shack by Serenity bay had a nice cache to help us out.

And yes, I came armed with plenty of Castaway Cocktail

I saw this fellow while walking the beach and had to fight the urge to go native on it for some fresh coconut milk. Not sure the DW would have tolerated the sight of me smashing it against some rocks while trying to open it.

It was nearing lunch time and the apple and banana we had a few hours earlier had well worn off. The smell of the BBQ was making its way to the beach and we followed along like a cartoon character.

The offerings at the BBQ are never disappointing. They really have a lot to choose from.

We opted to just create a meat plate and a salad plate then share off of that.

While finishing our lunch we overheard a pair of ladies enjoying their ice cream when one of the ladies proclaimed [ThickNewYawkAccent]”OMG Denise, did you try the banana ice cream? Its good as $#!T” [/ThickNewYawkAccent] Well, with a ringing endorsement like that I just had to git me sum! I opted to mix it with a little vanilla. I thought it was good just not “good as $#!T”.

After lunch we made our way back for a lite siesta before enjoying some more beach time. Before you knew it it was nearing our time to leave . So we made a pit stop at Castaway Air to grab a Konk Kooler for the tram ride back.

Still to come: Our journey back to the boat, pieces of eight, and the Muppets Midship Detective Agency gets two more agents!

 

[Mom@disney]

Congrats on the 5K! A Disney marathon is on my bucket list.

 

[ScarletBegonias]

I'm a distance runner, and really don't like 5k's because I am on the slower end (and it balances out over a half or full marathon! LOL) but I think this race would be pretty cool! Flat is good, but humidity will kill you no matter what the terrain!
Castaway Cay seems to awesome. I want to go!