Trip Report Our 2nd Anniversary DREAMy Boardwalk Adventure (Sept. 2015) COMPLETED

We have arrived home from our wonderful Disney vacation, and are ready to start our trip report! I say "our" because my husband has recently joined the forum as MRhappyplace, so he will add contributions (and corrections) as we go along.

We are Amber (age 36) and David (age 45). Our 2nd Anniversary was on August 31, and we honeymooned at Disney in October 2013, so it had been almost 2 years since our last trip. This is us:





Our trip began on Saturday, September 12th. I had to go to work for a few hours to train some staff, and while I was gone, DH took care of packing up the car, getting everything set up for our kitties, and cleaned out the fridge. All that fun stuff. I came home at around noon, and we did all the last-minute things and then we headed out for a couple of stops. We ultimately got on the real road (aka highway-driving from around 45 miles northeast of Atlanta) at around 2:15. Not too shabby.

We weren't heading into the bubble until the following day, Sunday. We added on a hotel stay in Bay Lake, Florida for this Saturday night, so that we could get to the World fairly early, and much less tired on Sunday. After a stop at Chick-fil-a for dinner around 5pm in Perry, GA, we got to the Country Inn & Suites at around 8pm. We were given Room 306, so were quite confused when we stepped off the elevator to this sign:



??? Turns out our room was just behind the elevator. Not a bad room at all, we would stay here again. We went to Steak n' Shake for dinner, then contemplated taking a dip in the indoor pool at the hotel, but there were three older women in there, singing at the top of their lungs, having a good ole time. We didn't feel it necessary to join them :p Went to bed.

Sunday, September 13th:
The continental breakfast was so-so the next morning, but we did have a bit, and were on our way.

We hit a bit of rain, and the skies were all gloomy as at 11:15, we saw in the distance, then passed under the Walt Disney World sign-no amount of rain was gonna bring me down; I did my slap-the-hubby's arm-squeal-clap-bounce thing in the passenger seat!





We pulled into the Boardwalk at 11:25!


Just a little teaser for tonight-will continue more tomorrow evening. Thanks for joining our thread!
 
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sheriffwoody

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Loving your report! We visited the Boardwalk area for the first time this last trip, and I think it has moved up to the top of my list of places to stay (especially after reading your report). I love the theming and proximity to Epcot. Looking forward to hearing about the cruise portion of the trip.
 
myhappyplace

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Original Poster
prfctlyximprct said:
Can't wait to see the Dream portion of your trip!! :) :)
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Thanks! That ship was amazing, can't wait to start that portion!

sheriffwoody said:
Loving your report! We visited the Boardwalk area for the first time this last trip, and I think it has moved up to the top of my list of places to stay (especially after reading your report). I love the theming and proximity to Epcot. Looking forward to hearing about the cruise portion of the trip.
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Thank you!! I would have to say I am a Magic Kingdom girl, so though I think I still give Wilderness Lodge a slight edge, I loved the Boardwalk, and loved how easy it was to walk to the International Gateway. I mean, we were hungry, so we walked to Japan, ya know?! Plus the transportation options to DHS. The theming was so charming, it is definitely an amazing resort.
 
DisneyPrincess5

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member
Loving your report! Great photos and I love your details and insight. Happy (late) anniversary!

myhappyplace said:
Thank you!! I would have to say I am a Magic Kingdom girl, so though I think I still give Wilderness Lodge a slight edge, I loved the Boardwalk, and loved how easy it was to walk to the International Gateway. I mean, we were hungry, so we walked to Japan, ya know?! Plus the transportation options to DHS. The theming was so charming, it is definitely an amazing resort.
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I totally relate. I love the Boardwalk resort area and I adore the laid back, care free nature of the whole area, especially the walking to Epcot and the boats to there and DHS (we are too lazy to walk there!) However I too just can't get enough of MK so staying in that area is even more magical. We are staying at Bay Lake for the first time in a few months and then next trip, we are going to go back to the Boardwalk area to experience that again too!
 
DisneyPrincess5

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member
sheriffwoody said:
That is where we just got back from! I didn't care for the resort itself, but DANG is it nice to walk to Magic Kingdom. We might stay there again sometime just for that perk.
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That's great! I've heard mixed reviews of BLT so we are going into it with the expectation of "it'll be AMAZING just to get to walk to and from MK and be on the monorail line again"! It's a 10 minute walk I've read?
Plus we do enjoy the atmosphere inside the Contemporary so that'll be fun. DH always wanted to stay at the Contemporary and this is probably as good as it's gonna get.
 
sheriffwoody

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
DisneyPrincess5 said:
That's great! I've heard mixed reviews of BLT so we are going into it with the expectation of "it'll be AMAZING just to get to walk to and from MK and be on the monorail line again"! It's a 10 minute walk I've read?
Plus we do enjoy the atmosphere inside the Contemporary so that'll be fun. DH always wanted to stay at the Contemporary and this is probably as good as it's gonna get.
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yes, 10 minutes max, and that's at a leisurely pace. And I LOVE the Contemporary theming. I've become a big Mary Blair fan, so I loved seeing her work in the monorail area and in California Grill. But yeah, never gonna happen at rack rate. haha
 
myhappyplace

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Original Poster
Friday, September 18th

The following morning we were up and at em fairly early again, I think. We made a minor boo boo, I sent DH to get a luggage cart; I don't know why. I guess we are just not used to deluxes yet. Anyway, he was very sternly told that we needed to call down for luggage services. So we did that, loaded our car, and off we went!

We had a few errands before getting to Port Canaveral, but we had a early port arrival time (the second slot, I think 10:45-11?) so we had plenty of time. We stopped for some breakfast at McDonalds, then CVS for a memory stick (my memory card was getting full) and a hair straightener (mine broke), and then we continued our drive until we could see this in the distance!





Luggage drop off, parking, and security were a breeze. I was selected as sort of a security test-the head security guy clipped something to one of my bags to test his screeners. Good news, they caught it.

Check-in was also easy peasy. We were boarding group #5. In no time at all, we were heading through those Mickey ears!





I will freely admit, as they announced "Welcome the Z Family!" I had a few tears in my eyes. The atrium was stunning. Stunning!

You will see many variations of this chandelier in photos. You have been warned.


It was Halloween on the High Seas




We just walked around, exploring, and getting our bearings. DH was in the Navy years ago so was helping me with the terminology.









 
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myhappyplace

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Original Poster
Told you...







We walked all over. We weren't even sure if we were allowed in some of the places, but I'm sure we were, else they would have been locked.



We went up to Cabanas for our first lunch.





This was our view from our table. A short time into our meal, an elderly woman and her daughter asked if they could join us, and we said absolutely. They were very nice to talk to, and I think this is where DH got used to the idea of being very sociable on a cruise.



My plate & DHs plate




We decided to look around the pool deck, and go swimming. We found the adult only pool easily enough. We used the spa restrooms to change. The pool felt so nice!

We chatted with three ladies who leave their hubbies at home and cruise together, and we also recognized and met @lostpro9het and his lovely wife. It took us a minute to work up the nerve to introduce ourselves, we didn't want to seem like stalkers!! We all chatted football, wrestling, and I don't remember what else.

Then we heard the announcement that Staterooms were ready! We were room 6572. We were pleased to discover that there was plenty of space, and tons of storage!








 
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myhappyplace

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Original Poster
This was, for the time being, our view from our verandah.




This bed, and the pillows, we're super comfy!


This room has the shower and a sink (and yours truly in the mirror)


This was a smaller room with a toilet and sink


Our room number and decoration


I want this pillow for my bed!


We can't remember if we had our luggage at this point, but at some point later, we went back out to look around, and scope out where we would be heading to dinner later on.

Cause you can't have enough atrium/ chandelier shots!!! I defy you to NOT take pictures of it if you cruise on the Dream!! We have also determined that our entire house would most likely fit in the atrium. Crazy amazing and jaw dropping place.


Love the details and colors


And looking straight up at it...


The Halloween Tree. Pumpkin Tree? Jack o'lantern Tree? I forget...


Us in the atrium




The grand stairway


We loved spotting and pointing out the characters and details in the railings


We wandered by the Enchanted Garden...we decided to forego this meal on our second night for Palo, though we would breakfast here one morning.


We loved the bits of art and decor you could find in all areas-halls, seating areas, everywhere. It was probably so fun to be a decorator on this ship!!


Our meal later this evening (we had the 2nd seating) would be at Animators Palette. We walked down to get the lay of the land, and see the menu.




The view looking back up the hallway from Animators Palette toward the atrium.
 
Mrhappyplace

Mrhappyplace

Well-Known Member
myhappyplace said:
We decided to look around the pool deck, and go swimming. We found the adult only pool easily enough. We used the spa restrooms to change. The pool felt so nice!

We chatted with three ladies who leave their hubbies at home and cruise together, and we also recognized and met @lostpro9het and his lovely wife. It took us a minute to work up the nerve to introduce ourselves, we didn't want to seem like stalkers!! We all chatted football, wrestling, and I don't remember what else.

Then we heard the announcement that Staterooms were ready! We were room 6572. We were pleased to discover that there was plenty of space, and tons of storage!
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I had figured that we would run into @lostpro9het at some point on the cruise but didn't expect it to happen so soon. Really I was surprised we found the adult pool as quickly as we did.

Plenty of space in the stateroom! I thought back to my Navy days and estimated that that much living space would be used by 15-21 sailors on the ship I was on.
 
lostpro9het

lostpro9het

Well-Known Member
Ah yes, the adult pool! It seemed miles away from the opening scene of Gladiator that was the family pool area! Total chaos...
myhappyplace said:
We chatted with three ladies who leave their hubbies at home and cruise together.
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The Buckeye Ladies! Those gals were fun and we kept bumping into them the whole trip!
myhappyplace said:
and we also recognized and met @lostpro9het and his lovely wife. It took us a minute to work up the nerve to introduce ourselves, we didn't want to seem like stalkers!! We all chatted football, wrestling, and I don't remember what else.
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I'm so glad you pointed it out because I can be a real captain oblivious sometimes! We should have hung out more but this was one busy cruise and I didn't want to creep any new friends out :D.

In addition to some sports I had some good fun poking fun at the travel agent's husband who didn't know much of anything about the cruise he was on.
 
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myhappyplace

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Original Poster
lostpro9het said:
Ah yes, the adult pool! It seemed miles away from the opening scene of Gladiator that was the family pool area! Total chaos...

The Buckeye Ladies! Those gals were fun and we kept bumping into them the whole trip!

I'm so glad you pointed it out because I can be a real captain oblivion sometimes! We should have hung out more but this was one busy cruise and I didn't want to creep any new friends out :D.

In addition to some sports I had some good fun poking fun at the travel agent's husband who didn't know much of anything about the cruise he was on.
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Loved that adult pool, we visited it one other time as well.

Yes, the Buckeye ladies, that's right. They were a hoot, we saw them around a couple more times too, as well as the ladies we sat with at the later tequila tasting.

You wouldn't have creeped us out at all! DH and I met on a forum actually, and I have probably met close to 40 friends in person who I know from various forums, so it's not unusual for me.
 
myhappyplace

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Original Poster
Continuing on our ship exploration-

Princess me


We reported to our assigned area for our muster drill. I attempted a selfie with my actual camera, and it did not quite turn out as planned...


When we were released, we headed up to the madhouse that was the Sail Away party...we figured we needed to see it on our first cruise. In the future, we probably wouldn't feel the need to.


We were excited to watch the Aquaduck in action






Photos of the stacks






I was hungry, and so stopped at Flo's for a burger


We went back to the stateroom to get showered and ready for the show and dinner, and noticed we were moving!!




US Coast Guard escort

While we were getting ready, our stateroom host, Rian from Indonesia, knocked on our door and introduced himself to us. He was so sweet!! He gave us some pointers on easiest ways to get here and there.

Then it was Golden Mickey time!! We really enjoyed this show especially the Tangled part (though they did have some computer problems during the lantern screen part). Then it was back to our stateroom where we found his left by Rian:


I didn't catch this in time, but DH alerted me that the sunset was a hidden Mickey...you can almost see it, but still pretty.


 
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prfctlyximprct

prfctlyximprct

Well-Known Member
The Dream dressed up fro Halloween makes my heart all melty! :happy::happy::happy: I love the decorations! The jack-o-lantern porthole is tooooooo freaking cute! I loved those little chocolates they left on your bed! Thank you for bringing back some heart warming and yummy memories! Hope you had a wonderful cruise... l can't wait to see more!
 
DRD

DRD

Well-Known Member
The Jack O'Lantern tree thing is kind of strange. Both of our girls were sort of "huh?" like we were about it. But it's a nice touch I guess.

We definitely agree with your thoughts about skipping Sailing Away party. Or using that time to ride the Aquaduck. Our cruise last year had virtually no wait on the Aquaduck during the party.

I'd kinda forgotten that excitement of catching your first look out a window and realizing the ship is moving. That's fun. Did you guys get to see the space center or rocket towers on the other side of the boat before departure?
 

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