Trip Report Lebeau Family Trip Report 2015: Universal Studios and a Disney Dream Cruise

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For the last few years, our big family vacations have mostly involved going to Walt Disney World. Last year, we made a special trip to check out Disney's latest additions in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom. At the airport on the way home, we got into an elevator with a guy carrying a clipboard with the Universal logo on it. He asked if we enjoyed our trip. We said we had. Then he asked if we got to visit "the fun place" and tapped his clipboard. We said we hadn't because the girls were still a bit young. He chuckled and said, "Those are good Disney ages."

This year, I wanted to do something different. For one thing, Disney wasn't offering anything new. But we were also getting a bit tired of the typical Disney World vacation which is simply exhausting. I didn't think the girls were old enough for Universal, so I looked into a Disney cruise instead. Over the course of planning the trip, we allowed a little time in Florida both before and after the cruise. When I realized that the day before we boarded the ship was Father's Day, I decided to spend a day at Universal to get a taste of what we had been missing.Before I get into the details of the trip, let me introduce the cast.

There's me obviously. Presumably you know a bit about me. It's my blog you're reading. I'm a middle-aged dad with a young wife and two daughters. I'm a theme park junkie and the primary vacation planner thus the repeated trips to Walt Disney World.

Mindy is my wife. She's been slowly losing patience with my "Disney obsession." She reluctantly agreed to my Disney cruise plan because it involved going to the Bahamas, something she had wanted to do for quite some time. She's also a Harry Potter fan. Not enough to own a robe or wand, but enough to have read all the books.

Josie is our oldest daughter. She's now a ten-year-old. Josie's a bit shy and tends to be cautious when trying new things. But when she gets to giggling, her silly side comes out. She's read some of the Harry Potter books and has recently become an avid viewer of The Simpsons.

Kara is our youngest. She's a real spitfire. At six years old, she's barely tall enough to ride most of the rides at Disney and Universal. But she's a bit timid about the scarier attractions. If it's possible for a ride to scare a kid, it will probably scare Kara. What sold her on our Universal day was the minions from Despicable Me and the promise that she wouldn't have to ride anything she didn't want to.

This trip report is going to be large, so I'm going to break it down into chapters. If you want to read specific sections, here is a table of contents:

Escape From Gringotts

Breakfast in Springfield and Men in Black

Mel's Diner and Minion Mayhem

Universal Monsters Cafe, Transformers and The ET Adventure

Lunch at Fast Food Blvd

Exploring Diagon Alley

Hogwarts Express and Jurassic Park

Hogsmeade and Seuss Landing

Marvel Super Heroes and Cabana Bay

Arriving at Port Canaveral in Style

Boarding the ship

Kids clubs

Setting Sail

Dinner at Enchanted Garden

The Golden Mickeys

Castaway Cay

The Midship Detective Agency

Dinner at Royal Palace

Princesses!

Anna and Elsa

Dolphin Encounter at Atlantis

Pirate Night

Another Day on Castaway Cay

Anyone Can Cook

Animator’s Palate

One Final Thing

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Before our adventures at Universal Orlando could begin, we had to get there. We flew into the Orlando International Airport on Saturday afternoon. I had arranged car service from the airport to the Cabana Bay Beach Resort where we would be staying for the weekend. Based on a recommendation from Mousesavers.com, I used Happy Limo. We had a driver from the airport to the hotel and another driver scheduled to take us from the hotel to Port Canaveral on the morning of the cruise.

On the whole, I was pleased with the service. The night before our flight I received a text message from our first driver, Jesus. He confirmed what time he was picking us up and indicated that I should text him when we had arrived at the airport. Unfortunately, it was storming when we landed. Due to thunder and lightning, we weren't able to exit the plane immediately. We sat on the plane for about ten minutes while the storm passed. Mindy is extremely claustrophobic but she managed to hold it together.

I texted Jesus to let him know about the delay. All the planes unloaded at roughly the same time so the airport was flooded with people all at once. By the time we got to baggage claim, it was about 30 minutes after the time we were scheduled to meet our driver. Jesus remained very patient and helped us get our luggage. The car service cost a little more than a rental car or some of our other options. But let me tell you, it was well worth it. The car was parked right next to baggage claim. From there, it was a stress-free ride to our hotel.

"This is soooo much better than Magical Express," Mindy commented in reference to Disney's shuttle service. I nodded in agreement. As we approached the hotel, we could see several of the attractions at Islands of Adventure including the Hulk roller coaster, Dr. Doom's Fear Fall and Hogwarts castle. I also scoped out the deluxe resorts for future visits.

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No sooner had our bags hit the curb then an attendant in a Hawaiian-print shirt was picking them up and carrying them into the lobby. I barely had time to tip the driver before the attendant ushered us into the lobby to check in. Check-in was smooth and the hostess was friendly. A few minutes later, we were wheeling our luggage cart down the long hallways to our room.

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I had asked for a room close to the lobby. The bus stop and the food court are located in the central building of the resort and I wanted to be close to both of them. The girl at check-in told me she couldn't get us close to the lobby because the hotel was completely booked. But she had a room that was close to the bus station. Since the bus station was next to the lobby, I wasn't entirely certain how we could be close to one without being close to the other.

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Our room was 6243. That meant we were in building six on the second floor in the forty-third room. Building six is part of the Americana section which is the closest to the bus station. But to get to building six, you must first walk past or through building five. Room 43 was at the far end of building six. So we ended up having quite a long walk from the lobby to our room. The girls began grumbling.

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We eventually figured out that the zigzag pattern of the hallways made for an indirect route to and from the room. It was faster to exit the hallway and cut through the pool area.

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We quickly settled into the room. We wouldn't be staying here very long, so we only unpacked what we needed for the weekend. It was past our regular dinner time and everyone was hungry, but the girls didn't want to walk back down that long hallway to the food court. The hotel offers pizza delivery which we considered. But one way or another, I had to go to the lobby to use the Will Call Desk in order to print our theme park tickets. So even if the girls ordered pizza, I was going back to the lobby.

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Reluctantly, the girls agreed to accompany me because they couldn't make up their minds regarding dinner. I had been told by the girl at the check-in counter that I needed to get to the Will Call Desk before it closed. It turns out, that probably wasn't true. The guy at the Will Call Desk gave me a coupon book and then directed me to a kiosk where I printed up my tickets. It was a great convenience that would save us time when entering the parks the next morning.

Next: Bayliner Diner and City Walk

 

[lebeau]

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Since we were running out of gas, we decided to cross over into Seuss Landing to take in a few kiddie rides before leaving the park. In order to reach our destination, we had to double back through Hogsemeade. The crowds were noticeably lighter, so we checked out the posted wait time for Forbidden Journey. Sure enough it had dropped from 45 minutes to 20 minutes. That seemed doable, so we queued up. The actual wait time was about 15 minutes.

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The queue for Forbidden Journey winds through the magical castle of Hogwarts. The queue is so detailed that it is an attraction all to itself. People actually take "tours" of Hogwarts. There is a separate line for people who just want to see the inside of the castle without actually experiencing the attraction. In this room, magical paintings carry on conversations about the state of the magical world. Certain wizards aren't thrilled with all of us muggles roaming the grounds.

The ride is more intense than Escape From Gringotts. The vehicle is mounted on a robotic arm which gives it a wide range of movement. If you're prone to motion sickness, you may feel a little green in the gills before your Forbidden Journey comes to an end. As we did on Gringotts, we used the child swap. Mindy and Josie rode first while Kara and I waited in the child swap room. When they returned, I knew right away that I was going to experience the ride solo.

Mindy looked a bit pale. I asked Josie if she wanted to ride again and she hesitated. I told her it was okay if she wanted to wait with her mom and her sister. She took me up on the offer right away. I enjoyed Forbidden Journey. I was especially glad to see more physical effects as opposed to screens. But I had to admit that the wild motion got to me a bit. I'm more likely to revisit Gringotts than I am Forbidden Journey.

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Before we left Hogsmeade, Josie wanted to check out the candy store, Honeydukes. Like all the stores in the Harry Potter lands, it was small and visually interesting. We didn't end up buying any sweets, but we enjoyed the window shopping.

We finally found our way to Seuss Landing. Mindy and I were running on fumes, but the girls got a second wind from the colorful, child-friendly surroundings. Especially Kara who had been out of her element since Despicable Me before lunch. Mindy doesn't do rides that spin, so she sat out the first two attractions.

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First up was the Caro-Seuss-El. This is a pretty standard merry-go-round with a few Seussian flourishes. Josie's mount had a little lever that allowed her to flick its tongue. That's why the girls are sticking their tongues out in the picture. Kara may be licking her elephant's ear. I couldn't get a normal picture from them at this point. I was drained. This may be a simple ride, but sometimes simple rides are what kids like best. Ask Kara which she would rather ride again, the Caro-Seuss-El or the technical marvel of Transformers and the merry-go-round will come out on top every time.

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Kara made a beeline from the merry-go-round to One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. This ride is another spinner ride like Dumbo. There are also some water elements added in. Islands of Adventure loves rides that get you wet. Josie rode alone and Kara rode with me so that both girls could be at the controls of a fish. Kara delighted in trying to hit all the sprayers. She wanted to get me "soaked". I played it up any time she managed to get me wet and she squealed with delight.

When the ride ended, we weren't wet enough for Kara's liking. So I picked her up and made her promise not to splash me at a nearby spout. She immediately splashed us both at the spout. Mindy, who was watching from outside the gates, later told me that Kara also splashed the family walking behind us. Fortunately they didn't seem to mind. It was really hot!

We continued blasting through Seuss Landing in short order. Our next stop was the Cat in the Hat dark ride. I showed my Express Pass at the door and the attendant told me I didn't need it. There was no one in line. We walked on to the ride which retells the story of The Cat in the Hat. As dark rides go, Cat in the Hat is about average. The ride includes a fair amount of spinning to differentiate it from your typical dark ride.

On the one hand, The Cat in the Hat was nothing to write home about. On the other, it's the type of attraction Universal could use a little more of. I'm glad for a dark ride in a thrill park. I just wish it was something a little more special.

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Our final attraction was the High in the Sky Trolley. This ride offers some terrific views of the park. It has two tracks which offer different experiences, but I wasn't about to tell the kids that. We were on the path that told the story of the star-bellied sneetches. From our high vantage point, I mapped out our path to the front gate.

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On our way out, the girls caught sight of a candy counter. Not having consumed sugar for a few hours, they wanted to fuel up. Josie picked chocolate-covered marshmallows on a stick and Kara wanted a caramel apple. I suggested we grab a seat in the nearby Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-Pendous to enjoy the snacks in air conditioning. But Mindy was ready to take off, so the girls ate their treats on the go.

We made it about ten feet before Kara started choking on the peel of her apple. The girl doesn't like to chew when there is sugar to inhale. I'm not sure if the choking incident impacted her opinion or not, but she decided that Disney has better caramel apples. So score one for Disney there.

Next: Marvel Super Heroes and Cabana Bay

 

[lebeau]

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We decided that our last ride of the day would be The Amazing Adventures of Spider-man. Following Forbidden Journey, Mindy was done with rides that involved any kind of motion. So Josie and I were going it alone on this one. Using Express Pass, we were able to walk right on. But I'm pretty sure the ride was close to a walk-on even without Express Pass.

I had experienced this attraction during my previous visit to Universal in 2008. Since then, Universal has given the ride an HD upgrade. As great as Spider-man was originally, I had to admit that the upgrades were noticeable. I felt like we were ending our day at Universal on a high note and Josie agreed. She especially enjoyed being sprayed by Hydro Man.

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On the way out, the girls spotted one more chance for a photo-op.

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After a picture in the front seat, they wanted another in the back seat. They are pretending to be wearing handcuffs which is why they have the sad faces on.

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We wanted to refill our drinks before we left the park. So we headed to the nearby Captain America Diner which had Coke Freestyle Machines. When we walked in, the place was empty. The employees asked if we were there for refills. When we answered that we were, they pointed us to the soda fountains.

Long-time readers know I'm a Captain America fan. He's been my favorite Marvel character long before the movies made him cool (well sort of cool). So even though we weren't going to eat there, I was excited to get to check out the diner. The interior isn't as cool as the museum-like Classic Monsters Cafe. But it does feature lots of large cut-outs of all the Avengers. Unfortunately since it was built in the 90's, it features the art style of that period.

Rumor has it that Universal is hammering out a deal with Marvel to give Marvel Super Hero Island an upgrade. What that entails is still up in the air. But if Universal's recent additions are any indication, I definitely look forward to seeing what they can do with Marvel in the future. More Cap please!

With freshly filled drinks, we marched our way back through City Walk to the shuttle site. As I had when we arrived, I picked Kara up and put her on my shoulders. Otherwise, we might still be walking. By the time we got there, we were all dead on our feet. Well, except Kara. She was dead on my shoulders. So we were all relieved to see not one but two Cabana Bay shuttles waiting for us.

One of my least favorite aspects of a day at Disney is dragging the family to a crowded bus station after an exhausting day only to have to wait for two or three buses to pull up and drive away before finally boarding a standing-room-only public transport. This was a welcome change from that experience. We were back in our room in less than ten minutes! Yeah, suck it Disney buses!

As we left, we were hot and exhausted, but I was very satisfied. I had spent Father's Day with my family. We were all sharing an activity I loved. I couldn't think of a better way to spend the day. Several times during the day, I expressed my gratitude to the girls for spending the day with me and for being such good sports about trying new things. I think everyone had a great time despite the heat and aching feet. This Father's Day was one for the record books. It's going to be a tough one to top.

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Once we got back to the hotel, the girls were in a hurry to redeem the points they had accumulated in the parks. Kara hadn't really gotten a chance to play with the wands at Olivanders, so she was drawn there. If you want to pick up some of the hot Harry Potter merchandise without dealing with the cramped stores, the hotel gift shop is the way to go. All the most popular souvenirs are there with lots of breathing room.

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I got a text from Mindy indicating that her keycard didn't work and she had been locked out of the room. So I told the girls to make their selections quickly. Naturally, they couldn't decide. Eventually, they decided on a couple of stuffed toys which you will see in a later picture.

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After our shopping excursion, we returned to the room. The girls still wanted to go swimming before it got dark. So Mindy got to relax in the room while I took the girls down to the pool. I had brought some floats of our own to use on the lazy river. But after inflating two for the girls, I was too tired to inflate my own. So I just hopped into the lazy river and guided the girls along in their floats.

Along the way, we passed several lifeguards. They were stationed at every turn so as to ensure that guests were constantly supervised. One life guard was particularly caught up in the hotel's retro vibe. He was singing old-fashioned doo wop and trying to get me to harmonize with him. On our first pass, I assured him that he was better off without me. But on our second run, his infectious enthusiasm won me over. We did our best be bop which I'm sure wasn't very good at all. But the girls got a kick out of their dad embarrassing himself with some lifeguard who looked like a surfer. After a couple more rounds of swimming and singing, I was a bit relieved when the lifeguards had a shift change.

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By the time we returned to the room, it was getting dark and the girls were hungry. I tried to encourage everyone to come with me to the Bayliner Diner to get a late supper. But they were having none of it. They thought it would be a much better idea for me to walk down to the food court and bring them back dinner to-go. I took orders and went off to fetch food.

Mindy wanted the tuna noodle casserole. Kara got a side order of mac and cheese. Josie ordered the spaghetti and meatballs. The girl who dished up our food was very generous with the portions. I think she was looking to empty some trays of pasta. I got Josie's breadstick without cheese because I knew she would just pull it off anyway. Since I was all by myself, I decided to go to more than one station instead of ordering my food from whichever station the girls wanted. I got a Cabana burger which was basically just a nice-sized cheeseburger with the toppings you would expect.

When I got back to the room, the girls were ready to dig in. Kara liked the look of Mindy's casserole and claimed it as her own. She went back and forth between the tuna noodles and the mac and cheese. I eventually got a sample of the mac and cheese. It looked and smelled great, but it was actually pretty bland. Josie ate the meatballs and breadstick. But once again the mountain of under-sauced pasta was largely untouched. My burger was good, but not exceptional.

The next morning, I started getting a little worried about our ride to Port Canaveral. I had scheduled car service from the airport to Cabana Bay and from Cabana Bay to the port via Happy Limo. For the first ride, I received a text message from the driver the evening before we left to confirm when he would be picking us up. But we still hadn't heard anything from our second driver. Since our ride was early in the morning, I didn't want to take any chances.

About an hour before our driver was supposed to pick us up, I went ahead and called Happy Limo. They told me something or other about why the driver may not have texted. I'll be honest, it didn't make a lot of sense to me. All I wanted to know was whether or not we had a ride. As soon as I hung up the phone, I got a text message from our second driver, Eddie. He confirmed he would pick us up at 9:15.

That didn't leave us a whole lot of time. We wheeled the bags out to the Bayliner Diner and grabbed a quick breakfast. I told Mindy just to order something for me. They all got cinnamon rolls which they seemed to enjoy. Mindy ordered me some kind of Mexican breakfast dish. It was hot and wrapped in a breadlike tube, but not very flavorful. I ate enough of it so as to not get hungry before we reached our destination. By 9:10, I got another text message from Eddie telling me he was ready whenever we were.

We wrapped up our breakfast and stepped out to the curb right at 9:15. To our surprise, this was the car they sent:

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Yeah, they sent a limo. My first thought was, "I'm not paying for a limo!" But Eddie assured me that we had been upgraded for free. According to Eddie, it was because they were overbooked and they were all out of the car I had requested. I will admit that I am cynical enough to think that maybe, just maybe, they had forgotten about us and the limo was meant as some kind of compensation. Maybe not. Maybe we just happened to get a free upgrade. I'll never know. But a part of me wonders what would have happened if I hadn't called the office that morning.

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Either way, the girls were thrilled. They could stretch out in the limo and watch Big Hero 6 on the DVD player. Josie had been wanting to ride in a limo for as long as she could remember. So this was the fulfillment of a dream for her. (And by the way, the stuffed animals they are clutching are the ones they picked out from the gift shop. I ended up carrying them every time we went anywhere with them.)

Eddie offered to make a grocery stop on our way to the port. But we had everything we needed, so we just carried on. I'm going to go ahead and recommend Happy Limo if you need car service in central Florida. But make sure you have their office number handy just in case.

Believe it or not, this was all just an appetizer for the vacation smorgasbord to come. The main course was our Disney cruise. In the next installment I will cover what turned out to be the best vacation any of us had ever taken.

Next: The Disney Dream cruise begins

 

[FlaggNL]

Great updates and even more great that they upgraded you to a nice limo

 

[lebeau]

Great updates and even more great that they upgraded you to a nice limo

The limo was a nice surprise. The girls couldn't have been more excited. I half suspect it was compensation for having fumbled the ball a bit. But if so, they recovered nicely. Arriving at Port Canaveral in the limo was a great way to kick off the cruise. and things only got better from there.

 

[Figgy1]

I'd love to ride down in one of those for our vacation, but alas not in the budget

 

[lebeau]

I'd love to ride down in one of those for our vacation, but alas not in the budget

It wasn't in my budget either. I had paid for a sedan. We did splurge on some luxuries here and there. Having a car service at all was a luxury over taking a shuttle. But that proved worth the extra cost. Never in a million years would I have considered taking a limo to the port. It was just a happy coincidence.

 

[Figgy1]

It wasn't in my budget either. I had paid for a sedan. We did splurge on some luxuries here and there. Having a car service at all was a luxury over taking a shuttle. But that proved worth the extra cost. Never in a million years would I have considered taking a limo to the port. It was just a happy coincidence.

I was trying to figure the cost of a limo 1000+miles budget

 

[lebeau]

I was trying to figure the cost of a limo 1000+miles budget

I don't even want to know. We paid the sedan rate which was about $140. Quite a steal for the car we got.

 

[Figgy1]

I don't even want to know. We paid the sedan rate which was about $140. Quite a steal for the car we got.

Great deal!

 

[lebeau]

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After having spent Father's Day on a whirlwind tour of both Universal parks, we were headed to the main attraction of this year's vacation; the Disney Dream. This was the first cruise - Disney or otherwise - for everyone in the family. We had previously approached the idea of a cruise with some trepidation. Mindy is prone to claustrophobia which makes even a two-hour flight to Orlando difficult for her. We were concerned she would feel trapped in a small cabin or stuck on a big boat in the middle of the ocean. There were also worries about things like motion sickness and whether or not the kids would be bored.

During the planning stages of the trip, I did my best to minimize any potential problems. By booking a Disney cruise, I figured the kids - and me - would be entertained. The cabins on a Disney cruise ship tend to be a little larger than industry standard. So that helped out a bit with the claustrophobia issue. To further allay concerns, I sprung for a cabin with a verandah. That way, regardless of room size there was always the option of stepping outside and getting some fresh air. This kind of thinking lead me to the conclusion that we might as well shell out for a room on the concierge deck of the ship.

We ended up having a wonderful vacation. Everyone is looking forward to taking another cruise someday. The extra money spent definitely contributed to our enjoyment. The girls quickly adapted to a life of luxury and Mindy says she's not sure if she could ever downgrade from the concierge treatment. It was truly a once in a lifetime type of vacation (unless of course we do it again). Hopefully I can adequately convey some sense of what the experience was like.


Due to the length of this report, I'm including a Table of Context up front so readers can jump to the sections that interest them.

Boarding the ship

Kids clubs

Setting Sail

Dinner at Enchanted Garden

The Golden Mickeys

Castaway Cay

The Midship Detective Agency

Dinner at Royal Palace

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Through a mix-up of some sort. we were riding to Port Canaveral from Orlando in a limousine. According to our car service, Happy Limo, they had overbooked their sedans for the day and given us a free upgrade. Regardless of the reason why, we were going to arrive at the port in style. It was an amazing way to begin a very luxurious vacation.

Despite numerous trips to Florida, the kids had never seen the ocean before. Our vacations had been limited to the part of the state in which theme parks were most abundant and beaches are purely man-made. So when our limo passed the ocean, I pointed it out to them. They got their first look at the vastness of the ocean. It had been quite a while since the last time I saw the ocean myself so even I was pretty impressed with the view. Mindy, who had been wanting a beach vacation for too long, was very satisfied.

For months leading up to the trip, I had been trying to prepare both the girls and myself for what we were about to undertake. The girls had been on a little riverboat cruise and their expectations were based on that experience. I told them repeatedly that this would be different. Our cruise ship was much, much larger. It would be more like a floating city than the kind of boat they were used to. Not surprisingly, this abstract concept never really sunk in with them.

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My preparation included reading a lot of trip reports just like this one. There's really no better way to get a sense of what a vacation is like than reading the first-hand accounts. Just about every trip report I read included a moment when the ship first came into view. Based on these reports, I was prepared to be awed by the size and grandeur of the ship. But even with that information, I had to admit that first view was pretty spectacular. The Disney Dream was both larger and grander than I was expecting.

I pointed the ship out to the girls and I daresay they were dumbstruck. Nothing in their young lives had prepared them for a sight like this. Sure, I had been telling them for nine months or so that the ship was big. I had told them it was 14-stories high and longer than the Eiffel tower is tall. I had compared it to a city. And yet, this was more than they were expecting. It was like seeing an alien space ship. Even Mindy was impressed.

Based on what I had read, there are a few different approaches you can take to embarkation (that would be boarding the ship for cruise novices). One strategy is to arrive early to beat the rush. The primary advantage is that this gives you more time on the boat which is basically what you are paying for. The drawback is that the port is likely to be crowded and you may spend a lot of time waiting around.

The other basic approach is to arrive a little later in the day after the port has been open for a while. Sure, you're giving up a little time on the boat, but as long as you don't arrive at the same time as a load of Disney buses, your wait times will be minimal. From what I read, guests who arrive after 1:00 can usually walk right on to the ship with little to no wait.

We were taking the early arrival approach. I had been on the fence about this because both methods had their appeal. Part of what sealed the deal for us was that we wanted to get tickets to some of the character meet-and-greets on board. There were two popular encounters which required advance tickets; a Disney princess gathering and a visit with Anna and Elsa from Frozen. Our girls had seen all of these characters previously at the parks at Walt Disney World. But part of the appeal of taking a Disney cruise was the opportunity to see them again.

In the months leading up to the cruise, I had called the onshore concierge desk a couple of times to see if the tickets could be secured before boarding. My travel agent made similar inquiries. Each time, the answer was the same. We would need to go to deck five upon boarding in order to obtain the tickets. But since we were concierge guests, we would have the advantage of being among the first guests to board which would practically guarantee us a spot at the meet and greets as long as we weren't late.

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The timing worked out very well. We arrived at the port just before the doors opened. There was already a pretty large crowd waiting to be admitted. A Disney cast-member came around collecting luggage. We had fastened the provided tags to our bags so that they could be delivered directly to our room. That would leave us with nothing but our carry-ons (which included a stuffed minion and unicorn which I was usually tasked with carrying). The cast-member saw that we were staying on deck 11 and promised us we were in for a stress-free vacation. He assured us the concierge team would take care of everything from this point on.

But before that could happen, we had to get on the boat. We were still standing outside the port. The kids whined a little. I told you, impatience is a thing. Mindy and I checked and double checked to make sure we had all of the required documents in hand. A few minutes later, the crowd started moving towards the front gate. We were on our way. The excitement in the crowd was palpable.

As we started moving, I got a message from our travel agent, Stacy. She told me that Disney was taking concierge guests to the third floor and that we should be sure to mention that so we would be directed to the right place. I should mention that one of the reasons we settled on this particular cruise was that it was being organized by our travel agency, Kingdom Konsultants. So there would be a lot of travel agents on hand should anything go wrong. I figured that would be an ideal situation for a first cruise experience. I mentioned the "third floor" to the Disney cast-member who checked our photo IDs. It was very clear to me that she had no idea what I was getting at, so we just let the question go.

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Upon entering the port, we had to undergo a security check. This was very similar to the TSA procedure at the airport. It wasn't fun, but we got through it quickly and painlessly. While we were waiting, we started talking to a couple of other guests that we presumed were mother and daughter. Mindy admired their polka-dotted toenails which were reminiscent of Minnie Mouse. The mother explained that the designs were actually stickers. We didn't know it at the time, but we would run into these guests and their toenail stickers again before long.

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Once we got through security, we entered the large open waiting area. There are various desks to process different things. I'm afraid I can't be very descriptive here because we by-passed all of them. Towards the center of the floor there is a large replica of the ship. One side of the model shows the exterior of the boat and the other side features a detailed cut-away of the interior.

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Captain Mickey Mouse was out meeting guests near the model of the ship. The wait to see him was shorter than it usually is in the parks, but the girls weren't interested in waiting in lines. The day before, they had shown a reluctance to meet characters at Universal and that carried over into the initial phase of our cruise. So we walked past Mickey to the concierge processing area.

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There was a bit of confusion here. A group of guests had gathered in front of the entrance. We couldn't tell if they were waiting in line to have their paperwork processed or if they were just inconveniently blocking the entrance. I decided to ask and it turned out to be the latter. Once that was cleared up, we made our way to the concierge services and everything got much simpler.

Next: Boarding the Ship

 

[lebeau]

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We had been told that the concierge team would take care of everything for us. And that's exactly what happened. Instead of stopping at various desks to get checked in and to register the kids for the kids' clubs, everything was handled at this one location. In a matter of minutes, we were checked in and the girls were wearing the identification bands for the kids' program.

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The bands are identical to the magic bands Disney uses in the parks with a couple of tweaks. On the side, there is an image of Captain Mickey and a Disney Cruise Line logo. They also attach a fastener so that the bands can not be removed. We were instructed to keep them on for the duration of the cruise. We were also told more than once that at the end of the trip, we would have a choice. We could either keep them as souvenirs and be charged a fee or return them to avoid the extra charge. Since we already have a set of magic bands from last year's Disney World trip, there was no debate. We were returning the bands at the end of the trip.

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Once we were done, we were led into a separate waiting area for concierge guests. There was nothing special about this waiting area except that it was gated off from everyone else. I quickly came to realize that this was one of the primary advantages to the concierge experience. If you wanted to, you could largely avoid all of the other guests with very few exceptions. We had roughly a half hour before we expected to board the ship, so we decided to get potty breaks out of the way.

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I was pretty sure I had spied the restrooms on my way in. So I went first making sure that I had correctly identified their location. When I returned, I let Mindy know where the women's restroom was. She took the girls while I sat in our enclosed waiting area with the carry-on items. After a while, I started worrying that they were taking a longer time than expected. A Disney cast-member arrived and it seemed we were going to board early. I texted Mindy to let her know we would be boarding soon, but she had already put her phone in airplane mode and didn't get my text.

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As it turns out, Mindy and the girls arrived exactly when it was time to board the ship. They had stopped by a vending machine which was why their trip took as long as it did - besides the fact that potty breaks with Kara are always extended affairs. I gathered up the carry-ons, including the stuffed toys, and we made our way on board the Disney Dream.

Much like the first glimpse of the boat, I had read several accounts of what it is like to take your first steps on board. I had seen pictures of the lobby and I knew that much fanfare would be made as our names were announced. But I wasn't fully prepared for what can only be described as a surreal experience. It all happened very fast and I am certain that my description will not do the experience justice.

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As you make your way on to the boat, there are several crew-members decked out in dashing white uniforms. One crew-member holding a microphone asked me for our surname. I had to repeat the pronunciation to make sure they got it right. And then we were announced as "the lebeau family" and the rest of the crew started applauding like we were royalty. We walked through the cheering crew into the atrium which truly has to be seen in person. Your eye is immediately drawn to the ornate chandelier. But all around, we were surrounded by beauty. It was somehow both welcoming and a bit overwhelming.

All of the concierge guests were being lead to Deck 12 for a reception from the concierge team. I indicated that I had been told to stop at Deck 5 to pick up tickets for the meet and greets. The person who was guiding us to the concierge lounge told me she was pretty certain that wouldn't be necessary and that the concierge team would take care of that for us. I had read several cases where this proved to be true, so I was willing to follow her advice.

​

We took an elevator directly to the concierge lounge where we were shown to a table. There was a lot of activity all at once. The concierge team was busy introducing themselves. There were waiters pouring drinks. Guests were getting up and filling plates with snacks and finger sandwiches. I inquired about the meet and greet tickets and was immediately assured that they had been "taken care of". My assumption at this point was that whether you asked for them or not, tickets had been set aside for all concierge guests.

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Once we had been assigned our table, I took Josie to the buffet line to get some snacks. The food in the concierge lounge is a bit fancy for kids' palates. But there were some sweets. Josie, who is usually a very picky eater, had determined that she would try new things on the cruise so she was a bit more adventurous in her selections. Kara, who is usually not picky at all, wanted no part of all this fancy food. She started eating the fruit snacks Mindy had bought from the vending machine.

The concierge lounge is very nice, but it's not very big. With so many guests and staff, it was a bit crowded. Many of the table tops were also on the small side. I found myself moving around drinks to make sure Kara didn't knock anything over. God love her, but she is not a careful child. At six, I guess not many are. As it turns out, my fears of a spill would be realized. Just not at our table.

Next: Champagne spills in the concierge lounge

 

[lebeau]

Out of the corner of my eye, I was aware of a flash of movement. It was followed by a woman loudly shouting "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" She then looked around the room of stunned guests and apologized for her outburst followed by a few more "dammits". One of her daughters had knocked over a glass of champagne just as I feared Kara might. The concierge team immediately jumped into action cleaning up the spill. But not everything could be wiped up with a table-cloth.

The woman was furious with the child who had caused the spill. She loudly sent the child away from the table and told her to stand by the entrance. I feel fairly confident when I say that everyone in the room felt sorry for this poor girl. It was clearly an accident - and a very easy one at that. I saw this little girl holding back tears. And yet her mother (or possibly step-mother as Mindy suspects was the case) continued ranting on.

The spill was cleaned up in short order and the little girl was given permission to return to her family's table. Her maternal figure continued to admonish her for her clumsiness. But the scene was quiet enough that the rest of us could ignore it. Thankfully, this family wouldn't be sitting next to us for very much longer.

​

The concierge team consists of three members. During the reception, one member of the team visited each table with a folder. The folder contained important information and an itinerary of everything that had been scheduled pre-boarding. Since there were more tables than concierge staff, guests waited their turn to review the folder with a member of the concierge team. Well, most of us waited out turn.

The loud woman who had very publicly admonished a child for spilling a drink decided she had enough of the reception. She announced that she had been through this presentation before and she didn't need to hear it again. By way of visuals, if you are picturing a member of the cast of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, you wouldn't be far off. and yes, I would be tickled if she somehow ended up reading this trip report as unlikely as that might be. Anyway, the Jersey Housewife took her family directly to the concierge desk and demanded to be admitted to her cabin early. I credit Danny of the concierge team with keeping his revulsion in check. Clearly the man's patience exceeds my own.

We all breathed a sigh of relief as the terrible woman exited to the room. Unfortunately, we would see her again before the cruise had ended.

Eventually, Danny got around to our table. I have to admit that the presentation didn't really include any information I didn't already know. But not everyone researches these things as thoroughly as I do. They have to assume that first time cruisers don't know this stuff or else important information may be missed which would negatively impact the overall experience.

As Danny was going over his spiel, Kara decided to take a nap. Or to fake a nap. I'm not entirely sure which it was. He was trying to engage each of us including the kids, but Kara's eyes were tightly closed and she curled up in her chair. She was having none of this.

My primary concern was of course the tickets for the meet and greets. I had been assured that they were taken care of, but I wouldn't feel totally secure until I had them in my hot little hands. I'm a skeptic, what can I say. When I asked about them, Danny seemed to show a bit of reluctance. "Let me make sure we have them all," he said. He went off to the main desk and came back with a couple of envelopes. They contained the tickets for both meet and greet experiences.

I'm going to pause for a bit of speculation. I suspect there is a little bit of a song and dance going on surrounding these meet and greet tickets. As I said before, I got the impression that tickets had always been set aside for the concierge guests whether or not they were requested. I mean, that would only make sense, right? And yet, for months every time anyone inquired, the official response was that the tickets would need to be picked up on Deck 5 upon boarding.

I suspect that this is done to make a bit of a show of the concierge team obtaining a hard-to-get item for their guests. I can understand why they would want to do so. If they are making an effort to procure a desired item, it's likely to result in a larger tip and positive feedback. Still, I kind of wish they had just told me up front that I didn't have to worry about getting tickets if they were always going to be waiting for me behind the desk.

Who knows? Maybe I'm being overly cynical. Regardless of the mysterious circumstances, I had everything I wanted. Danny ended his presentation by telling us that our rooms were ready for us "way before the other guests". This was another small benefit to the concierge treatment. Our room was ready at least an hour and a half before the rest of the cabins. It was nice to be able to drop off our carry-on items. Especially the stuffed animals. Even on a Disney cruise a guy carrying a giant minion and unicorn gets some sideways looks.

​

We did a quick inspection of the stateroom which everyone agreed was sufficient for our specific needs. I showed Mindy the verandah to make sure she wouldn't feel trapped. Soon we were ready to explore the ship.

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The first thing to catch Kara's eye was the hot tub. The concierge rooms are situated right next to the adult pool, so the particular hot tub we were looking at was off-limits to her. But she was interested all the same. Fortunately there was an identical hot tub in the open section of the boat. The hot tubs have glass bottoms so you can see straight down into the ocean.

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Our plan was to check out the kids' clubs which were several decks below us. But we hadn't yet figured out how to navigate the ship. Since housekeeping was still working on all the other cabins, several parts of the boat were currently closed off.

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We stopped for a moment as we passed Eye Scream, the self-serve soft-serve ice cream station. The girls stared in wonder as I demonstrated the ease with which ice cream was available on the ship. It hadn't quite sunk in that food was constantly available for the taking. Life was good. We were on board the ship with freshly made ice cream cones. The sky was the limit.

We finally figured out that in order to get down to the correct level, we needed to use the midship staircases. We found our way down to the atrium where Pluto was being walked out to do meet and greets. I tried to encourage the girls to pose for a picture with him, but they were still reluctant to meet with characters. Just as we approached Pluto, a bunch of kids came charging up the steps to meet him. He went from no line at all to probably a five-minute wait. That's still an incredibly short wait compared to what we're used to in the parks. But since the girls weren't in the mood to meet with characters, I wasn't going to push the issue.

With the exception of our two ticketed events with the princesses, we didn't really go out of our way to meet with any characters. If you want to see them, they are plentiful. Their locations and times are posted in the daily Navigator and you can pretty much count on characters being in the atrium around meal times. Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy met there on a pretty steady rotation in varying outfits. If meeting characters is your thing, you can meet more of them with shorter waits here than you would at Disney World.

​

On the way to the kids' club, Kara wanted to try out one of the portholes. Since we had a verandah view room, our room didn't have a porthole of its own. Disney knows people lounge in portholes anyway, so they just went ahead and put cushions in the bottom of their portholes.

Next: The Kids Clubs

 

[lebeau]

For those who have been reading ahead at the blog, the final chapter is up now.

 

[Figgy1]

For those who have been reading ahead at the blog, the final chapter is up now.

Thank you!

 

[lebeau]

​

When we arrived at the Oceanographer's Club, there was a massive crowd outside the gate. I realized that the crowd was for people trying to register their kids and receive bracelets. But we had already received our prior to boarding. So we cut through the crowd and walked right in. Yet another small convenience associated with the concierge treatment.

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The kids had gone back and forth on the entire issue of kids clubs. Josie in particular was a bit reluctant to be separated from us. You might think it would be the other way around, but Kara was mostly cool with the idea. Any reservations she had melted away when she saw how many activities there were in the Oceanographer's Club and Oceanographer's Lab. The clubs were in their "open house" phase so we were able to walk around and explore with them. There was no way any kid could be bored in this place. There was just too much to do.

​

The club consists of several different rooms with varying Disney themes. One room recreates Andy's room from Toy Story. Other rooms are themed to Monster's Inc, Pixie Hollow and Finding Nemo.

​

There were TV's playing Disney movies or music videos and large beanbag chairs for lounging. An interactive dance floor where games would be played. Several computer terminals for various activities. A miniature animation studio, a sound mixing station, a ship sailing simulation and some high-tech video games. Not to mention drawers and drawers of toys and games.

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The lab consisted of several tables and chairs where instructors would lead in activities such as science experiments and cupcake decorating. We'll get back to that later on.

​

We spent some time investigating all the rooms until everyone's curiosity was satisfied. Here's a not-so-brief visual tour of the premises.

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Next: Setting Sail

 

[lebeau]

​

As I mentioned previously, one of the reasons for booking this particular cruise was that it was being hosted by the Kingdom Konsultants travel agency which has a presence at the WDWMagic forums where I have been a longtime contributor. Pam, the owner of Kingdom Konsultants, was holding a reception for all of the forum members on board. Most of them had met previously at a dessert fireworks party at Epcot the night before. But we had opted to go to Universal instead. So I wanted to be sure to get to the reception just to put some faces to names.

The problem was, I wasn't 100% sure what time the reception started or where it was being held. I went to the group's Facebook page and asked. Another guest told me it was scheduled for 2:00 which sounded right. I was pretty sure I had read it was being held in one of the clubs, but I couldn't remember which one. The clubs were mostly located on Deck 3, so we made our way down there.

When I saw the names of the clubs listed, Evolution had a familiar ring to it. We asked a few nearby Disney cast-members and they tried to help. But they clearly had no idea what I was talking about. Mindy was getting a bit annoyed with what she perceived as a wild goose chase. Fortunately, we found the gathering in Evolution before an open revolt started.

Unfortunately, we had arrived early. The actual event didn't get started until 2:30. The kids - Kara in particular - were whining about being hungry. Kara really hadn't eaten at the concierge lounge and Josie had only grazed. Despite the ice cream cones we had grabbed, they were ready for some lunch. I thought there had been some mention of food at the Kingdom Konsultants event, but if so it appeared the plans had changed.

When we arrived, Pam introduced us to all the other members of the group. We were also handed a gift bag which contained a surprising array of thoughtful and useful items. I was bowled over by the generosity of the gift bag which was really only a precursor of things to come. More on that when we get to fish extenders. The bag included a couple of snack items which we used to placate Kara while we waited for the actual gathering to start.

At 2:30, our "special guests" arrived. They were Captain Mickey and Cruise Director Minnie. We had limitless time to meet with the characters. But as I said before, the girls were a little gun-shy about meeting characters for some reason. It took some prodding to get them to pose for pictures. And then, wouldn't you know it, I somehow messed up the pictures. I don't know what I did, but they didn't take at all.

Fortunately, Pam had hired a photographer. Although he didn't have any pictures of our girls specifically, he did take a group photo which included everyone at the reception.

Remember the guests we were standing next to at the security gate who had Minnie Mouse-inspired polka dot toenails? Well, it turns out they were in our group! In fact, before the trip was over, the girls would have polka dot nail stickers of their own thanks to the fish extender program. More on that later.

​

Since the girls were a bit tired and hungry, we didn't stay at the reception long. Soon after the pictures, we headed up to Cabana's where they could get something to eat. Cabana's served lunch until 3:00. When we arrived, it was still pretty packed but it was finally starting to clear out. We made a couple of quick plates for the girls just before they shut the buffet line down. They didn't need full lunches. They only needed something to carry them over until dinner at 5:45.

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Once the girls had at least partially filled their bellies and greatly improved their moods, we headed back to the stateroom. We had about a half hour to kill before we had to report to the safety drill. I stepped out onto the verandah. We were definitely on vacation now. I could feel the stress draining from my body. A guy could get used to this.

The relaxation was cut short by repeated announcements for the muster drill. The muster drill is safety training in case the ship goes down. They tell you where to report to your lifeboat and how to put on a life jacket. The drill was scheduled to start at 4:00 but they ask you to report 15 minutes early. The announcements started around 3:30 and became more frequent from there.

We headed down to our location on Deck 3 about ten till four. There were some cast members lining up the guests who had already reported. We had to show our key cards to report in because the drill couldn't officially start until everyone had been accounted for. The first part of the drill involves lining everyone up and then packing them into tighter and tighter rows. Every time more guests arrived we were asked to squeeze in a little closer. Mindy and the girls weren't loving it.

While all this was happening, I witnessed a Disney cast-member escorting a young girl to the drill. Her family was coming from the other direction. Apparently they had been separated. The little girl broke into sobs when she saw her parents. They tried to console her, but the girl was inconsolable. Poor thing.

The muster drill was delayed because not everyone had reported. In the trip reports I read before our cruise, I saw several people recommend coming to the drill late. It's true that arriving to the muster drill late means less standing around for you. But it extends the wait time for everyone else who more or less followed directions. Be considerate. Don't show up late for the drill.

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After the drill, we headed to Deck 12 for the Sail Away Party. It was already pretty crowded anywhere that offered a decent view of the stage. We weren't especially interested so we didn't make much of an effort to secure a good viewing spot. The first part of the show is essentially a middle-aged guy shouting like a frat boy about how exciting the cruise is going to be. I have to give the guy credit for his energy levels. On my best day, I couldn't get that excited about anything, much less dance around while doing it.

It wasn't enough to get us pumped about our cruise. He had to go through all of the offerings for each age group individually. I'm not going to put this all in caps because it would be hard to read. But you should definitely read this part as shouting into a microphone. While dancing and clapping, the guy yells things like:

"Let me hear from the kids!"

"You kids are going to bake cookies!"

"You're going to do science experiments!"

"Where are my adults? Adults let me hear you make some noise!"

"You're going to ditch your kids in the kids' clubs and get wasted at the clubs!"

Okay, that last one was paraphrasing. But you get the idea. Here's a YouTube video of what the show is like:

[embed]

Ours was a lot louder and sweatier. Also, I would swear it was a good ten minutes before they brought the characters out when we saw the show. The time may have seemed longer to me because once again I had Kara on my shoulders. Otherwise, there was no way she was going to see anything.

So the characters come out and the show basically covers all the same material the loud sweaty guy just finished shouting at us about. The screen is playing what amounts to Disney's cruise planning video once again outlining the different activities available for each age group. All accompanied by pleas that we should "clap our hands".

Josie wasn't feeling the Sail Away Party. Kara was kind of waiting it out. Once she determined that nope, nothing interesting was going to happen here, we decided to ditch the party. I kicked myself a little for not having our swim suits handy. It would have been a great time to try out the ships suped up water slide, Aquaduck. But since the swim suits were in our checked bags and the bags had not yet arrived at our room, we returned to our stateroom.

We had almost two hours to kill before dinner. Our luggage was delivered to our room, but no one wanted to get changed into swim suits. We were going to have to get ready for dinner soon. The girls put on a Disney movie on the TV. They have a very large selection of Disney movies on demand. We had been told that they offered "every Disney movie ever" which was definitely an exaggeration. But all the animated movies you would expect to be there, were available.

While the girls were watching TV and Mindy was unpacking, I stepped back out onto the verandah. Port Canaveral was barely visible on the horizon. Soon, it would disappear from view. Josie came out and joined me. We just sat on our deck chairs taking it all in. We were officially at sea!

Next: Dinner at Enchanted Garden

 

[ScarletBegonias]

I am LOVING this trip report!!! Cabana bay looked amazing! I would love to stay there! and Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley look awesome too. I cannot wait for this part of our trip!

and the cruise! Loving the pictures! I've always wanted to go on a cruise! Anxious to read more!

 

[Mukta]

I'm reading this TR because I am sailing on the Dream in Sept, but I had to comment on the Universal stuff. I am so glad your family enjoyed. I highly suggest not getting the DP next time and trying Mythos. It is a great place to eat.

I love the Universal parks and I am so happy to see someone else have a great time there.

 

[lebeau]

I am LOVING this trip report!!! Cabana bay looked amazing! I would love to stay there! and Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley look awesome too. I cannot wait for this part of our trip!

and the cruise! Loving the pictures! I've always wanted to go on a cruise! Anxious to read more!

Cabana Bay is a fun place to stay in and of itself. Throw in the proximity to the parks and the extra hour early admission, and it's a must for any Universal guest. I'm very excited to see Universal adding affordable on-site hotels. It's a very smart call on their part. And definitely a win for guests. Have fun on your trip! And glad you're enjoying the TR so far.

I'm reading this TR because I am sailing on the Dream in Sept, but I had to comment on the Universal stuff. I am so glad your family enjoyed. I highly suggest not getting the DP next time and trying Mythos. It is a great place to eat.

I love the Universal parks and I am so happy to see someone else have a great time there.

I had intended to have dinner at Mythos. But we were still stuffed from our late lunch and butterbeer snack. Next time, we will definitely skip the DP and go to Mythos. The menu was appealing and I couldn't believe the prices compared to Disney! Plus, no need for ressies.

We really did have a great time at Universal and will be returning there before we even think about going back to WDW. Hopefully the TR will help you get ready for your cruise. You're gonna have a blast.

 

[wdisney9000]

Great report! I keep bouncing back between here and your blog to make sure I dont miss anything. How you handle being outnumbered 3-1 by the ladies on your trip is a feat in itself, lol.