Trip Report Our First December Trip! A Bay Lake Tower/ Dream Cruise Land & Sea Report ***COMPLETED***

Hi everyone!! Back from a wonderful trip only yesterday. Among laundry loads, grocery shopping, giving the cats the attention they're craving, not to mention recovering from my sea legs (I have no trouble ever on the cruise ship, but the first day or two afterwards, I still feel the motion of the ship), we are also uploading pictures. So I will be beginning our trip report shortly.

You may have seen our Pre-Trip report here:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...-night-trip-first-time-renting-points.909350/
The nitty-gritty of our trip:

WHO: Amber, age 38 (myhappyplace) and Dave, age 46 (Mrhappyplace). We have been married for 3 years. We live outside Atlanta together with our fur babies.




PAST TRIPS: Dave visited WDW as a child a couple times, and I have been going every 1.5 years or so since 2001. Our first WDW trip as a couple was our honeymoon back in October 2013. Our next trip together was a Land & Sea trip in September 2015. While on that cruise, we booked this cruise, then added some days to the beginning of the trip, since neither of us have visited when Christmas decorations are up-and I LOVE me some Christmas!! Spoiler alert: we booked our next cruise on this one!! (TIP: if you think you even remotely want to cruise again while onboard, there is no reason NOT to do this! It locks in a discount and shipboard account credit, you have 2 years to complete the cruise, plus if you decide not to, the deposit is refundable!!)


WHEN: December 1-4 Bay Lake Tower (we rented points-another first, all went smoothly)
(December 1- Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party)
December 5-9 4-night Disney Dream cruise


OF NOTE: This report will have TONS of pictures. After our prior trip, on which Dave highly enjoyed borrowing my camera, we bought him the same one, so we could share lenses. So some pictures are from my camera, some are from his camera, some are from my phone, some are from his phone.

Who's ready to go!?

 

[epcotisbest]

Thank you for the wonderful trip report. Nicely documented with excellent photography.
We spent a week at Atlantis a few years ago. Stayed at a place there called Harborside at Atlantis. I bet we did that not so lazy river a half dozen times. We liked The Dig and enjoyed the beach and all the pools too. We only went in the casino a couple of times, and then we only watched. It is a big, beautiful, sprawling place and this country boy from Georgia was quite amazed.
The gingerbread house making looks fun, and my goodness, those food pictures look amazing.
Thanks again for sharing your adventures.

 

[lostpro9het]

And that, my friends, is our vacation! I hope you enjoyed!

Wow, I can't believe this is over already. Thanks for sharing the fun with us!

 

[Mrhappyplace]

Wow, I can't believe this is over already. Thanks for sharing the fun with us!

It's not totally over, I've been pressuring her to finish the trip report quickly as she uses my laptop to do it and as such she skipped over a couple of things that I'll add here. Additionally she may decide to post one or two of our ride videos from Atlantis.

The morning of our at-sea day I slept in a bit and didn't do my usual stroll around the ship and wait for the sunrise when I got out of bed I went directly to our veranda and of course the sunrise had more color then the two previous mornings. I did capture a few shots from the veranda.














That last full day of the cruise I hardly used the camera. I will say that while on our first cruise I was really impressed by the 3D screen in the theater when we watched Ant-man, for Doctor Strange it was the sound system that really stood out. After we left the theater I had a kinda funny encounter with a castmember in the restroom, he was cleaning in there when I entered and while I was using the urinal his mop or broom fell with the handle almost hitting my leg. He was immediately very apologetic and when I said everything was alright he quickly burst into laughter about it. During the course of the cruise I used that restroom 3 times and everytime he was either in there cleaning when I walked in or he walked in while I was leaving so just to mention how clean everything is on a DCL ship.

Departure day, I did walk around the ship a bit with the camera. I intended to take some pics of the ship pulling into port but got into a conversation with a older Canadian gentleman when I walked through Cabana's and by the time I disengaged it was time to go back to the room and prepare to disembark. I did take a few pics before but not as many as I normally do or wanted to.





Sattelite falls area had a bit of a light show going on this morning, not sure if this was because of docking but it wasn't active the other mornings. When I arrived it was purple and quickly turned to red.



And after that we grabbed our bags and headed to the atrium. We were probably about 20 families back in the line but while making our way through the terminal a customs officer opened up his booth right in front of us so we actually were the first to make it out of the terminal and into the parking facility. While we didn't really want our vacation to end it was nice to get out of the parking lot while everybody else was behind us.

 

[PacNWTigger]

Thank you both for sharing your pics and adventure. I really enjoyed your morning pics during the cruise. I'm looking forward to your next TR.

 

[DRD]

Really enjoyed the trip report. You have me wanting to go back on a cruise now!

Very thankful you guys helped out the little one who was lost...I can tell you what that's like as a parent and it's absolutely horrifying for those few minutes. I'm certain the father will never forget your kindness.

RE: the Remy bottle of wine...how was the wine bottle stored? I cannot fathom paying $25,000 for a bottle of wine. But certainly not for one that's been displayed in a cruise ship for years!

 

[myhappyplace]

Thank you for the wonderful trip report. Nicely documented with excellent photography.
We spent a week at Atlantis a few years ago. Stayed at a place there called Harborside at Atlantis. I bet we did that not so lazy river a half dozen times. We liked The Dig and enjoyed the beach and all the pools too. We only went in the casino a couple of times, and then we only watched. It is a big, beautiful, sprawling place and this country boy from Georgia was quite amazed.
The gingerbread house making looks fun, and my goodness, those food pictures look amazing.
Thanks again for sharing your adventures.

We appreciate your reading and comments!!

Wow, I can't believe this is over already. Thanks for sharing the fun with us!

I know, I got on quite the roll! But I wanted to finish while my memory was fresh. Enjoying your report too!

Thank you both for sharing your pics and adventure. I really enjoyed your morning pics during the cruise. I'm looking forward to your next TR.

Thank you!

Really enjoyed the trip report. You have me wanting to go back on a cruise now!

Very thankful you guys helped out the little one who was lost...I can tell you what that's like as a parent and it's absolutely horrifying for those few minutes. I'm certain the father will never forget your kindness.

RE: the Remy bottle of wine...how was the wine bottle stored? I cannot fathom paying $25,000 for a bottle of wine. But certainly not for one that's been displayed in a cruise ship for years!

I wouldn't have been able to NOT help her, trust me!! It was definitely instinctual, and yes, dad thanked us profusely!

I don't know enough about wine to say for certain, but it was on the same rack as all of the other wines. It took the guide a minute to find it among the rest.

 

[blreinsel]

Loved your report! I'm so anxious to do a cruise someday.. I'm hoping for my someday honeymoon!

 

[Tuvalu]

I will mention here, that all morning, I was keeping my eyes open for a @Tuvalu sighting, but alas, we didn't see her

You should have stayed for the first Muppet show...we were there watching it!

We followed a similar itinerary to yours on Saturday morning, but hit the same attractions earlier when you were at BOG.

I was waiting until you finished your TR so I could read it start to finish. But I had to comment before reading further .

Great pics and commentary so far!

 

[myhappyplace]

Loved your report! I'm so anxious to do a cruise someday.. I'm hoping for my someday honeymoon!

Thank you!! I highly recommend it!!

You should have stayed for the first Muppet show...we were there watching it!

We followed a similar itinerary to yours on Saturday morning, but hit the same attractions earlier when you were at BOG.

I was waiting until you finished your TR so I could read it start to finish. But I had to comment before reading further .

Great pics and commentary so far!

Oh man! DH said "are you sure you'd recognize her?" and I said yes. I just apparently didn't look around then!! Thank you!

 

[carriehpotter]

Great report! It sounds like you guys had an awesome time! I really want to do another cruise now, even more so after reading this!! Thank you for all of the beautiful pictures and memories!

 

[Mrhappyplace]

Great report! It sounds like you guys had an awesome time! I really want to do another cruise now, even more so after reading this!! Thank you for all of the beautiful pictures and memories!

Thanks for following along, glad you enjoyed it! How was your trip? Can we expect a trip report from you?

 

[carriehpotter]

Thanks for following along, glad you enjoyed it! How was your trip? Can we expect a trip report from you?

Our trip was great and I have lots of stories to tell! I definitely plan to write a trip report, but probably not until the new year, as this holiday season has been especially crazy! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

 

[Mrhappyplace]

Our trip was great and I have lots of stories to tell! I definitely plan to write a trip report, but probably not until the new year, as this holiday season has been especially crazy! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Glad to hear you had a great trip. Enjoy the holidays and do your trip report when you are ready for it, I'll be looking forward to reading!

 

[DimpledDevil18]

Thanks for posting this trip report! Your pictures were lovely and it was awesome to hear so much about the cruise since I've never been on one and it won't be anytime in the near future since my Mom is terrified of boats.

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Thank you so much for sharing! I loved loved loved all your photos, it honestly felt like someone was setting down a plate of food right in front of me when I saw your dining pictures! Such detail!
Love that Stitch stole your husband's hat! If you didn't point it out I wouldn't of realized it wasn't part of Stitch's attire! How funny
I am itching for a Disney cruise right about now......

 

[myhappyplace]

Thanks for posting this trip report! Your pictures were lovely and it was awesome to hear so much about the cruise since I've never been on one and it won't be anytime in the near future since my Mom is terrified of boats.

I'm glad you enjoyed the report! It really is a wonderful vacation, maybe you could do WDW together and then tack on a cruise at the end for just you and a friend or your sister, or someone other than your mom. I really feel a cruise must be experienced

Thank you so much for sharing! I loved loved loved all your photos, it honestly felt like someone was setting down a plate of food right in front of me when I saw your dining pictures! Such detail!
Love that Stitch stole your husband's hat! If you didn't point it out I wouldn't of realized it wasn't part of Stitch's attire! How funny
I am itching for a Disney cruise right about now......

Thank you very much! For some reason I had such a hard time remembering to take the food pics this trip, which is unusual for me! Im glad you enjoy them! I loved Stitchs whole outfit but yes, him stealing the hat was quintessential Stitch.

 

[Tuvalu]

So after resting for a bit at the Contemporary, we decided to head back into Magic Kingdom. On the way there (walking), we realized that we probably would be entering right when Main Street would be crowded, because of the afternoon parade. It didn't help that I got held up in the bag check line (DH goes through the no bag line). I was in line behind a man who had a drinking bottle full of a liquid that the security guard did not feel was plain water...it was brown. And that's exactly what the guard said when the man insisted "it is water"...he said "water isn't brown". So, the guard radioed over a superior to look at said liquid. It took awhile, and I couldn't see what the ultimate decision was as to whether the bottle was allowed in, but the man eventually was. I chatted with the guard a minute because he was from very close to where we live. When we got up to the turnstiles (I know, not turnstiles but I still think of them like that), it took us forever to get through. Know why??? That same man, apparently his mickey didn't turn green. The cast member was asking him what park he used his ticket/band at last. He said "ESPN". She said "what PARK?" and he said "my resort". Facepalm. We finally were able to go around him. Oy.

Anyway, we were right about the crowds on Main Street. So we just decided to pick a spot close to the entrance to watch the parade, since we enjoyed it last year. While waiting, we realized that we probably didn't really have time to wait for the parade to get all the way to the front of the park, because we weren't sure how transportation would be running. So we got to watch the cheerleaders that prefaced the parade, and then we gave our spot to the people behind us, and left MK. Shortest MK visit ever

We originally decided to try the boat to the Poly, but then we changed our mind and thought it would be quicker to use the monorail for whatever reason. It wasn't. We did chat with a delightful older woman on the way. We were slightly late, but our ADR time was also very close to when they opened for dinner, so we thought we'd be fine, and we were.



This was our first experience ever with 'Ohana. Our server sort of reminded me of John Malkovitch. He wasn't overly talkative or personable, really. He brought out our bread right away.



We've heard wonderful things about the bread, but I didn't really care for it, and DH didn't really want to fill on it, and would rather wait for the main courses. I don't know if it was supposed to be warm, but it wasn't. It just seemed dry to me. That was the only part of dinner I didn't care for, though.

I LOVED the salad!


Some of the decor around us:




We forgot to take a picture of this platter right away, so forgive us for the partial food photo! I absolutely loved the noodles!! I ate lots of those. The veggies and dumplings were delish too. Neither of us are really wing fans because we find wings in general too much work for not much meat, plus DH doesn't really care for messy foods in general. I did have one wing, and thought it was good, and had a good proportion of eatable meat.



The singer, and leader of the kids coconut race. We couldn't see this event, as we were on the other side of a wall from it, but that was fine.


Here is our server doling out some of the grilled meats. I don't eat much seafood, so the shrimp was all DH. I loved the steak and chicken though! DH would have preferred the steak to be a little more done for his taste, and we made a mental note that on any return trips, we would ask for such.



I had to get up and take a pic of the grill area. It smelled SO good to walk by!!


We ate and ate as much as we could, yet still trying to save room for:


SO good!! Nice and warm, delish.
Overall, we really enjoyed our dinner!!

Coming up: our visit to the Grand Floridian!

Never looked up at the ceiling in 'Ohana. Thanks for photographing those sculptures I missed!

 

[JamieLee18]

Awesome trip report, thanks for sharing! We did our first Disney Cruise last year and had no idea there was breakfast service!

 

[myhappyplace]

Never looked up at the ceiling in 'Ohana. Thanks for photographing those sculptures I missed!

If I recall DH noticed those; I chalk it up to being our first time here, so we were just sort of trying to soak in all of the details!

Awesome trip report, thanks for sharing! We did our first Disney Cruise last year and had no idea there was breakfast service!

Thank you very much! I highly recommend the breakfast service, it is far less crowded and they have lots of choices!

 

[Mrhappyplace]

Never looked up at the ceiling in 'Ohana. Thanks for photographing those sculptures I missed!

If I recall DH noticed those; I chalk it up to being our first time here, so we were just sort of trying to soak in all of the details!

My background as a international assassin has taught me to always survey my surroundings when entering a space so I immediately noticed them and said take a picture for the trip report. They reminded me of carved meerschaum pipes that vendors sold in the grand bazaar in Istanbul.