Trip Report The “More SunPass than the average Florida resident/Can you believe this is happening?” Trip Report.

*****Disclaimer*****​

This is my first trip using a GoPro as my primary form of image capturing. With this comes some trial and error that I learned along the way so I do apologize for the occasional fuzzy picture as well as the excessive amount of pictures I am about to bombard you with. Additionally, I am not known for my wordsmithing as I favor the 1’s and 0’s over the A’s and B’s so I apologize ahead of time for the inevitable grammar and spelling typos that will surely come your way. That said, I do hope you enjoy the following!

So here we are, Surf ‘n Turf trip number four! For all the funtivities about the who/what/when/etc have yourself a nice read here:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/18-years-of-marital-bliss-means-it’s-time-for-some-surf-n-turf-action…-again.915877/

So after about five and half hours of sleep I was up bright and early at 04:00 with the DW soon up to follow. The DMIL, who was staying over to watch the DD, saw us off and we ended up pulling out of the house around 04:40 to avoid the madness that is Atlanta traffic. We had to make a quick stop to fuel up first:

We chose to avoid eating until we got through downtown because I didn’t want to risk getting caught in anything the ATL could conjure up. Soon we were on the south side and ready for some breakfast. We passed a sign for Truett’s grill, Chick-fil-A founder, and thought this sounded good, I love me some spicy chicken biscuit action! We took the exit and made our way to the grill only to find out that they didn’t open for breakfast until 06:00!! Alas, it was only 05:45 and I was on a mission to not waste time so we hopped back on I-75 and made our way south. We ended up dining at a Chick-fil-A in Macon only to learn that the spicy chicken biscuit has now become a regional item!! I pressed the server to make sure she knew what state we were still in and that the idea of a spicy chicken biscuit not being available in Truett’s home state was just plain nuts! So the DW and I settled for a pair of chicken biscuits but had the fortune that a Dunkin Donuts was right across the street so we were able to secure some good coffee for the trip.
[TangetTime]

True story: I actually met Honey Boo Boo at this very Dunkin Donuts during the state wrestling tournament about three years ago. Now aren’t you jealous!!!

[/TangentTime]

We would only stop one more time for fuel and restroom access during our travels. We did, however, pass a most entertaining car fire as we entered into Florida. I felt a bit bad for the folks watching their car crisp up and even worse when we eventually passed the FD traveling north about 5 minutes later. What, amazingly, felt like a short seven-hour ride, we had arrived!

We navigated our way from Western Way to MK’s main gate. Needless to say I was ready to get to the Poly. Here the DW nabbed a pic of me without knowing, it wouldn’t be the last she would get of me.

Soon we were in the Poly’s lobby talking in the wonderful sights and smells.

We made our way to the front desk to learn our room was not ready. We anticipated this and packed our bathing suits and some libations in a tote for an afternoon poolside before our early evening fastpasses. We made for our car and moved it to the DVC parking lot when we got the call…

 

[Sans Souci]

Did you like it? It looks fancy, so I'm assuming it tastes fancy.

I love cold brew coffee. It is so smooth and very little bitterness.

 

[Sans Souci]

They have wine tastings on the Dream now? I must have missed that in September. @Tiggerish we should look into that for next year.

 

[imahistorygeek]

They have wine tastings on the Dream now? I must have missed that in September. @Tiggerish we should look into that for next year.

It was our first trip I remember it being offered. Of course, we were always trying to book mixology and may just not remember hearing/reading about it.

 

[Tiggerish]

It's quite noticeable pulling into port. However, it didn't last long and definitely didn't hear or feel anything most of the time.

Facts.

IMO, the vibration/noise was comparable. While cruising you never noticed any more noise or vibrations when when midship or forward than aft. When rotating, stopping, or starting you would feel shudders that would last a few seconds at the beginning of the action. Slept like rock every night. We enjoyed the location so much that we booked our 7-night 20/40 trip in the room one deck above this one.

Also facts. I love the aft verandahs!! 7194 is my favorite, but I've stayed in that one plus 9174, 7690, and 8684. I've got 8186 booked for next September, although I was trying for 8188. Deck 9 is too close to Cabanas for me to try it. Deck 6, the verandahs' arent extended enough #snob

They have wine tastings on the Dream now? I must have missed that in September. @Tiggerish we should look into that for next year.

Pretty sure they have always had them, it's just that the rest of our group isn't really into wine.

We can certainly sign up for one in September!

 

[lostpro9het]

although I was trying for 8188!

That's the room we snagged for our 20/40 trip! Super excited to have the huge veranda that also has some cover.

 

[LeighM]

That's the room we snagged for our 20/40 trip! Super excited to have the huge veranda that also has some cover.

Room 8188 is the one I had for my now cancelled September cruise. So depressed about that..... I heard so much about how great the verandah is - guess that's another cruise I'm going to have to experience thru yall first LOL.

 

[lostpro9het]

So we made our way back to the room to clean up and get ready for the wine tasting. We had some pirate gear waiting for us when we returned.

We decided to take a quick selfie before heading downstairs to Pink for the event. Along the way we noticed the tree had blo0omed, and the of course I’m a sucker for the chandelier.

Soon we were at Pink and greeted by a familiar face and a few wine glasses

We were one of three couples that decided to take part in the wine seminar. This was nice to have an intimate experience. We made the rounds introducing ourselves when our turn came up and then sommelier, Anastasia, stopped us and said “I remember you!” She has a fantastic memory for sure because she was in fact our wine sommelier during our Palo visit a few months earlier when we asked her for some wine recommendations. We would meet her again this evening when we dine at Palo. So she took us through the history, science, and art of wine making and tasting and for the life of me I still don’t understand what a Tannin is but she sure did say it a lot! So we began with the tasting. We each had six wines to experience, three whites and three reds. We went through the motions of smelling, swirling, testing for color, and finally tasting. The order of tasting went:
Pinot Grigio, Santa Margarita
California Chardonnay
Risling
Pinot Noir
Bordeaux
Malbec.

My most memorable note from the tasting was that the Malbec smelled like garbage, literally, and was super dry. Maybe I’m not sophisticated enough because I still prefer a good Merlot or a nice blend. At least I’ve graduated from the Chennin Blancs and Muscatos which, let’s be honest, is really just adult kool-aid .

Still to come: Bingo, leaving port, and Palo.

 

[lostpro9het]

After the wine tasting we decided to do something else we have never tried before, BINGO! I stopped off at 687 to pick up another La Trappe, it really is a good brew that I highly recommend. Just be forewarned, it is a heavy hitter!

So, like I said this would be our first time with bingo so it was a bit foreign to us. First of all you purchase an allotment of “cards” but a majority of these cards are stored in what appears to be a relic of the 1980’s…

The movie prop from E.T they provide you will actually not call home but rather instantly check all your “e-cards” against the number being called. It will display the “card” that is the closest to winning. It was neat I suppose but Ill be honest it was a lot more enjoyable using the paper cards that you get in your card bundle:

The CMs did an excellent job of making the whole experience enjoyable. Despite not winning any cash it was fun and I would do this again.

So we still had some time before Palo and we had a long night ahead of us so we made for the room to rest for a bit.[Image withheld of tired wife for fear of retribution] We realized we were pulling out when we got back to the room so naturally pictures had to be taken before a nap.

Still to come: Palo, fireworks, and pulling into Castaway!

 

[imahistorygeek]

Despite not winning any cash [Bingo] was fun and I would do this again.

I had a great time at Bingo! I didn't expect to win any money, but it was fun crowd and everyone was having a great time.

 

[lostpro9het]

After a brief rest we got up and ready for our Palo experience. We made our way towards the venue but not before making a small detour for our token Palo selfie.

Now, if you’ve followed along in the past you know that I have never had luck with taking pictures inside Palo, sadly this visit was no different . We made our way past the beautiful spaghetti and meat ball sculpture (fuzzy pic not included) and into the venue.

We had a wonderful view

But I had the best view!

We were quickly introduced to our server, Danny, from Scotland. We were handed menus and told our bread service and antipasto would follow soon, and it did!

We requested to speak with Anastasia again for some wine talk and settled on a Chianti
http://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj499/lostpro9het/SurfTurfOct2016/GOPR0754.jpg[img]

We opted for some mixed greens and caprese salad as an appetizer.
[img]http://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj499/lostpro9het/SurfTurfOct2016/GOPR0757.jpg

For our mains we I went with the Palo and Laura went with a chicken dish(fuzzy pics not included) . Both were excellent as usually. Danny also brought out a new risotto dish they were experimenting with. It was good. Something else they were thinking with was an amaretto soufflé. Being a person of tradition it was had to deviate from my chocolate soufflé so we compromised and each got one flavor and shared. The amaretto was good but not as good as the chocolate.

Finally we were presented with a little anniversary surprise and some after dinner drinks.

Palo never disappoints and this experience was just as exceptional as the last. The service, atmosphere, and food are perfect, too bad the same cannot be said for my ability to take pictures I this place!!! It is amazing how fast time flies when you are having a wonderful time too. In all our dining experience was over two ours but felt nothing like it! Believe it or not we didn’t even finish our wine!!! We asked them to cork it up and send it to Royal Palace for our dinner the next night. They were happy to oblige and did so.

With Pirate Night still looming we made for our room to change for the fireworks. We had a little friend waiting for us when we returned

Still to come: Pirate fireworks, Castaway breakfast, and soooo many star fish.

 

[imahistorygeek]

Anyone notice more Lularoe?

 

[MinnieM123]

I am in awe of the interior photos of that ship. Mentioned this earlier in your thread as well, but I had to say it again. I generally don't think "First Class" anymore when I think about Disney, but man, that ship nailed it !!!

 

[lostpro9het]

So we did a ,little wardrobe change and made our way to the top deck for the festivities. We ended up walking through Cabanas where they were setting up for the post pirates food party. The melon carvings were spot on!

We exited Cabanas through Vanellope’s

When we made it topside we looked around for a bit to find a good spot fro the fireworks

Mixed it up this year and decided to take video of the fireworks rather than pictures, enjoy!


After the show we made our way back to our room for the night. We had plans on repeating our new breakfast ritual and room service would be at our room around 07:00 so it was going to be another early morning.

Still to come: Sunrise at Castaway, Serenity Bay, and did I mention the starfish?

 

[Tiggerish]

That's the room we snagged for our 20/40 trip! Super excited to have the huge veranda that also has some cover.

Jealous!!

I’m a sucker for the chandelier.

Me, too. I could look at it for ages.

 

[lostpro9het]

So sleep came fast and morning came even faster! I stirred first and made my way topside to take some sunrise pictures before breakfast made its way to our room. I was able to grab a few unique pics along the way.

I made my way up to the bow to take a few pics of the sunrise as we pulled up to the island. The weather was still fantastic. The last couple have Castaway in them.

About half way through the shoot my better half came looking for me because she couldn’t find my wallet to tip room service. Naturally that presented us with this FANTASTIC selfie opportunity . You can tell one of us is enjoying the early morning more than the other ….

Still to come: Breakfast, pulling into the doc, and Serenity Bay!

 

[epcotisbest]

Nice dining and sunrise pics. I am not much of a fine dining kinda guy, and if we ever do take a cruise I suppose we will stick to the regular fare. Now, those desserts in the background of the Cabanas pics...I would be all over those, at least sampling whatever my wife tried. Darn type two diabetes changes everything except cravings. Actually it changes cravings too...makes you want stuff you are not suppose to have even worse.

 

[Mrhappyplace]

Any idea what they were showing on the funnel vision screen? I can see the chandelier in the lobby and that seems odd to me.

Nice dining and sunrise pics. I am not much of a fine dining kinda guy, and if we ever do take a cruise I suppose we will stick to the regular fare. Now, those desserts in the background of the Cabanas pics...I would be all over those, at least sampling whatever my wife tried. Darn type two diabetes changes everything except cravings. Actually it changes cravings too...makes you want stuff you are not suppose to have even worse.

I'm also type 2 but my doctor tells me I can splurge on occasion just not to have to many occasions. When we cruised last year I ate pretty much everything I wanted with no thought to how many carbs it might contain and I plan to do the same again next week.

 

[lostpro9het]

Any idea what they were showing on the funnel vision screen? I can see the chandelier in the lobby and that seems odd to me.

I may have my mornings mixed up but one morning they were running a trivia game on the big screen. That may be the background for one of the questions.

 

[Sans Souci]

Anyone notice more Lularoe?

Is that a Lularoe dress? I love it, that's such a gorgeous color!

 

[imahistorygeek]

Is that a Lularoe dress? I love it, that's such a gorgeous color!

Yes, it is, thanks! It's a Nicole. Super comfortable and I love wearing to Disney.