Trip Report How did you ever get the kid to like cruising? Sea turtles, mate… sea turtles. Surf n’ Turf 2017

To quote the Jewish Elvis, “Hello Again”. For those interested in a back story leading up to this short and sweet journey towards a series of firsts you can have at it here:
Going for gold, a Disney trip full of firsts!
What turned into the most stressful and ridiculous two day work week, we slept hard and fast to a 04:00 wake up on Wednesday morning. I opted to make breakfast and coffee for the ladies this morning to reduce our number of stops on the way down. I even filled up the night before to make our drive smoother. We cruised through the ATL and soon were filling up in Tifton before 9, half way there! Another 3.5 hours and we were turning on to 192. Lunch was the first order of business and the ladies outvoted me and chose Cracker Barrel. I was hopeful we would hear about our room during lunch but we had not. After lunch we hoped for the best and made for The Grand Floridian and soon we were passing through the gate.

As we pulled into the parking lot we still had not heard if our room was ready so I ran in and checked with the DVC desk. Our room was ready! We parked and made our way to our room.

Up next: What a lobby!

 

[lostpro9het]

Is this at Iron City? My old employer held our company Christmas parties here every year. Really cool little spot and has had quite a few bigger artists come through to play some small shows. Funny seeing WDWMagic posts that feature my stomping grounds.

Good eye, Iron City it is! I was pretty impressed with this place. They do a lot with a small space.

 

[JamieLee18]

Is that new LuLaRoe I see in some of these photos?

 

[imahistorygeek]

Is that new LuLaRoe I see in some of these photos?

Yes! You'll probably see more on our next trip!

 

[LeighM]

I absolutely LOVED your thoughts on Tiana's Place. Honestly, that's the whole reason I changed from the Dream to the Wonder. But I do wonder what my husband is going to do. His favorite desserts involve bread pudding, beignets, and banana foster. I guess we're going to get all 3 and I'll be stuck eating what he can't finish LOL. I've got a little over a year wait left and I'm so excited. I'm just anxiously waiting for WDW to open up 2018 reservations so I can get the DCL transportation confirmed and start getting the rest of my numbers. I'm trying to convince the husband to rent DVC points for the 4 nights we're going to be there but will probably stay at AoA or Pop if I can't convince him. Hard to plan when you don't know package rates or cost of airline tickets though.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Tiana's Place is my absolute favorite MDR. The theming, the food, the entertainment were all amazing! The ravioli dish was one of the vegetarian options. I think it was mainly artichoke, but can't remember. It was excellent. If we are ever back on the Wonder, I would order it again. The beignets were so good! I saw someone order them in Triton's on our last night. I wish I would have thought of that.

One of the things I really liked about Tiana's was the style of food. It reminded me of Southern-style food (born and raised in Georgia). There was just something special about being there and feeling like I was at home.

 

[RyPat]

Like I said, looking over the menu beforehand had me invoking Veruca Salt as “I wanted it all”! For the appetizers we “shared” the boudin sausage fritters, shrimp and grits, Prince Naveen’s Cajun Charcuterie board, and the iceberg wedge salad.

Our mains were amazing but the best was yet to come I think and I just hope we had room left to experience it!

Still the come: The dessert menu does what!?!?

I should NOT have read this during lunch... my PB&J just isn't doing it for me now...

 

[sheriffwoody]

Tiana's Place looks amazing!

 

[LowesChevy]

You probably wouldn't be able to get me out of the Crown & Fin...great pictures

 

[LowesChevy]

We made our way aft to an observation deck. If there was one place where The Wonder was less than The Dream it was right here. What you see here is Palo from the outside. Which means while folks are enjoying their fabulous upcharge meal they potentially have to looks at the back ends of folks in their bathing suits! No thank you.

This is how I feel at Yachtsman Steakhouse! Sipping fine wine looking at a hairy guy with his wet suit . Not that I look amazing in a bathing suit, but I don't strut around at least lol

 

[kaitertot5249]

Great trip report so far! A Disney cruise is on my (ever growing) list of things to experience. My boyfriend and I have been to WDW twice over the past 18 months and he has told me that our next trip needs to be a relaxing one (and I agree with him on this). I'm trying to convince him that DCL is exactly that but with Disney magic, he hasn't bought it yet so I'm still working on it.

I can't wait to hear more about your cruise!

 

[imahistorygeek]

Great trip report so far! A Disney cruise is on my (ever growing) list of things to experience. My boyfriend and I have been to WDW twice over the past 18 months and he has told me that our next trip needs to be a relaxing one (and I agree with him on this). I'm trying to convince him that DCL is exactly that but with Disney magic, he hasn't bought it yet so I'm still working on it.

I can't wait to hear more about your cruise!

You should have him read one of our trips reports! Maybe that will nudge him in the right direction.

 

[lostpro9het]

You probably wouldn't be able to get me out of the Crown & Fin...great pictures

It was hard for me to leave. Between the beer, food, games, tvs, and some super comfy chairs the place is awesome and the themeing is just the cherry on top!

 

[kaitertot5249]

You should have him read one of our trips reports! Maybe that will nudge him in the right direction.

That's a very good idea

 

[sgtbtlbailey]

Sooo not that I need much of an excuse to plan a trip but... MONORAIL HIGHLIGHTERS??
How did I miss these a few months ago! I must go back- I'm sure that they wouldn't be available on the parks app & along with the food & drink that I need to revisit at Trader Sam's, it means I really should plan another trip...

Great report, now GF villas are added to my list also! Look forward to reading more!

They actually ARE on the Shop Parks app because I just looked!

 

[prfctlyximprct]

THE FOOD. THE BEER. THE BATHROOM.

CAN I JUST LIVE YOUR LIFE?

I will get to Trader Sam's one day! Boo to you hour and a half wait in November! Living vicariously through your visit!

 

[gwhb75]

We slept well over the night. I gotta hand it to the VGF, every aspect of our stay was fantastic. We woke to a beautiful view which would be our theme for this trip of sunshine and no rain!

This would be our first cruise where our port arrival time was not when the port first opened which meant we could sleep in, take it slow, and have a later breakfast! We scheduled Kona, our pre-cruise tradition, a little later this go around at 8:15. The plan was to get our breakfast on, monorail back to the resort, then head out. Im happy to say things went as planned and it all started with a fantastic breakfast! We checked in and a minute later we were seated. We had a wonderful server who’s name I am sorry to say I forgot but he was excellent.

The kid went with some Stitch juice and Laura and I each got a cup of coffee. We broke tradition a little here by not doing a Kona press; at $9/press the price is getting a little too ridiculous for me. The kid went with the ham and cheese omelet with fried potatoes (blurry pic) the portion was HUGE and very good. Laura and I shared the Big Kahuna with wheat toast, plenty for two people. My one gripe with the BK is the size of the pancakes has shrunken significantly since our last visit, see below. It may be nitpicky but it’s a trend we’ve noticed at restaurants across the bubble.

Big Kahuna NOW

Big Kahuna THEN

Again, we had a fantastic meal and hopped on the monorail to head back to our room. After a quick pack and walk through we hit the road!

Up next: The Wonder!

Are you sure the change in pancake sizes isn't just that forced perspective thing? Maybe the pancakes are the same size but the plate is bigger? Maybe you grew a lot since the last trip so they just seem smaller? Can't possibly be they are charging more $ for less pancake...

 

[lostpro9het]

Can't possibly be they are charging more $ for less pancake...

Mind blow, amiright!!!

 

[Shane7694]

Did you get eaten by the sea animals?

 

[lostpro9het]

Did you get eaten by the sea animals?

Ha! no....I will now hang my head in shame .... Life just got very ridiculous, but in a real good way! I will get back on this today!! Thanks for the push .

 

[lostpro9het]

Soooooo, where did we leave off… Oh yeah, we had a great night at Tiana’s and some adult lounge games before hitting the bed. We opted to head down to Cabanas and do breakfast and exit with the CC 5k runners. As was the theme for this trip, the weather was beautiful!

Like I said, we just joined in the running crowd and exited the boat with them.

We decided to make camp at the family beach, which was surprisingly uncrowded! We looked around a bit before making our way into the water.

Still to come: So many animals, some shipwreck bits, and more exploring.