Trip Report Two Turkeys at WDW & Merrytime Disney Cruise November 2016

Hello! My husband and I (two turkeys) just got back from WDW & a Merrytime Disney Cruise and I thought I would share our adventures. All of you are welcome to read but I'm going to tag a few of you that I know have followed along before. (Or at least those I can remember.) I look forward to reading your reactions!


I have shared a few of our other adventures and if you are interested here are some links:

Disneyland
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/disneyland-forever-july-2016.917141/
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/back-to-disneyland-ringin-in-2016.909039/

Walt Disney World
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...ts-wdw-november-2015-lots-of-pictures.907613/
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/movin-in-two-weeks-in-the-world.915373/
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/springin-into-wdw-solo-march-2016.911995/

Introduction:
Who: Me (Amy) and my husband (Brad) We are the two turkeys.
Magic Band personalization: Me: Gobble '16 and Brad Stuffing, in honor of Thanksgiving
When: November 22-November 28
Where did we stay: All Star Sports

Backstory We have wanted to do a Christmas themed cruise for awhile, and in May of 2014 I booked us on a 3 night cruise in hopes that it would match up with my school's calendar. Luckily it it did. I figured I might have to take a personal day (which I did), and we would add in some time at WDW.

The Report
Tuesday November 22:
I teach in a rural northern Wisconsin school so school for our students is off the whole week of Thanksgiving, but we have teacher inservice Monday and Tuesday. In our district we are not supposed to take off inservice days. So being the rule follower that I am yet still wanting to get maximize my WDW time I book (months ahead of time) a flight leaving at 7:10pm on Tuesday night. I figure I am golden, I don't have to break the work rules, and I'll still get to Disney on Tuesday night giving me 2 full WDW days before the cruise. Leaving on a 7pm will be perfect for traveling from work to the airport and giving me the time cushion I like to give myself at the airport. Well, Delta airlines had other plans.

About 1 1/2 month before our flight, I get an email from Delta saying they cancelled my 7pm flight and moved me to a 5pm!!!:jawdrop::mad: This was not good! If I left work for the airport without asking to leave early I would make it to the airport (if things went perfectly) when my plane would be boarding! So long story short I went and talked to my boss, fully prepared to take unpaid time and all that. And luckily he was very understanding and he said he knew that I would easily make up the time/work since I usually come in to work about 1-1 1/2 early every day anyway, and I would not have to take unpaid or personal time. (which was good because I had already designated my other personal day for a WDW in March of 2017). So now the only thing I had to worry about was weather & traffic getting to the airport.

Well, wouldn't you know it, but the weather decided that there would be a wintry mix with mostly freezing rain starting at noon the day we flew out! :jawdrop::mad: Ok, so now I'm already "breaking" the rule of leaving early, but now the roads would be treacherous. And I HATE driving in bad weather. It all made this type A girl very anxious. So my boss said I could leave even a little earlier. Luckily the weather people were somewhat wrong and it was mostly rain on the way, and stayed mostly rain. But were were at the airport now about 3 1/2 hours early. But we were there and our plane was on time. It really was time to relax now.

Minneapolis has two terminal buildings and we were flying out of the big terminal and flying back to the smaller one (with the cheaper parking). So we parked at the smaller terminal and took the light rail train to the bigger one. It is a bit of a hassle but the train came shortly after we got the to platform and away we went.

Brad at the train platform
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We are on time for take off. The plane did have to go through de-icing, as did other planes. So we were 20 minutes late in take off because of waiting for de-icing, but we only landed about 5-10 minutes late.
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The plane is here, what you can't see to well in the pictures is the sleety-rain. It made me a little nervous, but the trucks were constantly spraying de-icer on the runways.
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We landed, YAY! And since we planned to drive to the cruise port we rented a car. This was our sweet ride. As usually hubby, tried to pick up the most beat up and scratched one in the lot. His theory is that then the rental car company can't prove the scratches are from us.
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It was dark then as we drove under the sign so my picture didn't turn out clear. I got this blurr, but in a way it is kind of trippy and cool with the blur.
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We were super hungry and we thought about going to Trader Sam's or Disney Springs for something but it was a little after 11:30 pm and figured we wouldn't have much time. So we parked at the All-Star Sports and went into the food court. We probably should have went to the McDonald's. We got chicken tenders and fries and they were definitely end of the night servings (a little cold and stale). But it was sustenance and then we could go right to our room.
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A couple pictures of the decorations at the Sports. They weren't anything spectacular like a gingerbread house, but I liked them.
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Our room was really close to the main building in the Touchdown section. So we were both happy. In June we had requested to be near transport at the Music and got stuck in the Broadway section which was a bit of a hike. So we unpacked and I put up a few Christmas decorations to spirit up the room.
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So after unpacking we went to bed. We were planning to maximize our WDW with early mornings and late nights. We figured we could relax on the cruise.

Tags:
@figmentfan423 , @MinnieM123 , @JenniferS , @Tuvalu , @PacNWTigger , @Gabe1 , @betty rose , @Songbird76 , @catmom46 , @BuddyThomas , @donaldtoo , @Cesar R M , @fractal , @Mr Ferret 88 , @MouseDreaming , @PUSH, @Wrangler-Rick, @sheriffwoody, @MOXOMUMD
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
We looked around at the shop before boarding the tram to heaven aka Serenity Bay.
I thought these shirt designs were cute. I did buy one of them. Let's see if anyone can guess which one (sorry no actual prize for guessing correctly).
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A look at the family beach before catching the tram.
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Last one (t-shirt).
 

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
He has golfed the Magnolia and Lake Buena Vista. He likes to do the sunrise 9 which is a morning special that includes a breakfast sandwich, 2 drinks, and cart. He has reserved online and by calling, he has reserved about 3 months in advanced but didn't know if it could be done earlier. As for his review of the courses he liked them both but he says LBV is tighter but shorter, and Magnolia is wider, longer, and more bunkers. I'm not a golfer so I don't really know what that means. The first time he golfed LBV with the sunrise 9 he was by himself, all the other times he has been teamed up with people. Shoes were included with his annual pass and then he had to rent clubs he thought it was $20 but said that could be the AP price.

I also forgot to mention that if you are staying at a Disney resort, you can get a complimentary taxi to the courses. Just talk to bell services and they will arrange it for you.

I'm glad that @blgauger asked about the WDW golf courses. My 21 year old son loves to golf and I'm sure this information will come in handy on a future family WDW trip. It is awesome that they provide a complimentary taxi to the courses. Club rental sounds reasonable, too. Thanks so much for the info.
 

mikenatcity1

Well-Known Member
As the sun set and we left Nassau, hubby and I decided to skip the evening show and we spent some time swimming in the adult pool areas and in the hot tub. (No pictures of us in swimsuits, so thank your lucky stars!)
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The pool area was deserted, it was like our private pool.
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Then we got ready for dinner. It was pirate night tonight! Don't we look like dangerous pirates?
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We also stopped in one of the stores again. I was really tempted by these nutcrackers. I collect nutcrackers, but in the end I passed and hoped Santa would bring one. Spoiler alert....Santa didn't bring one. Perhaps the birthday genie will but that is months away.
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These pictures are wonderful! We went on a Merrytime cruise on December 12 and forgot to take a bunch of pictures- these make me smile! Thank you for documenting the trip- i'm loving this :) (and I collect Nutcrackers too! If you don't get it- you can call merchandise services and ask- sometimes they are able to pull items from parks and ships to get!)
 

PacNWTigger

Well-Known Member
I'm finally all caught up! I would love to see that Paris skyline again...even if it is in a bar...LOL! :hilarious: You're making it a little easier to sell the Disney cruise idea to my mom. The food pics alone should take her hook, line, and sinker for a little bit of mom/daughter fun.

Happy New Year to you and Brad. Thank you for including me in your adventures. Hopefully I will have some Disney fun this year as well to share. :D
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
I'm glad that @blgauger asked about the WDW golf courses. My 21 year old son loves to golf and I'm sure this information will come in handy on a future family WDW trip. It is awesome that they provide a complimentary taxi to the courses. Club rental sounds reasonable, too. Thanks so much for the info.

I'm glad I could be of help. My husband loves golf but has always been reluctant to give up a lot of park time for it. Usually with the sunrise 9 special he can golf early and still make it to the parks fairly early.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Loving the cruise photos!!

Thank you!

These pictures are wonderful! We went on a Merrytime cruise on December 12 and forgot to take a bunch of pictures- these make me smile! Thank you for documenting the trip- i'm loving this :) (and I collect Nutcrackers too! If you don't get it- you can call merchandise services and ask- sometimes they are able to pull items from parks and ships to get!)

Thanks, I'm glad I can make you smile! I'm pretty sure I can sweet talk hubby into buying me the cruise nutcracker in June since we will be on board on my birthday!
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
I'm finally all caught up! I would love to see that Paris skyline again...even if it is in a bar...LOL! :hilarious: You're making it a little easier to sell the Disney cruise idea to my mom. The food pics alone should take her hook, line, and sinker for a little bit of mom/daughter fun.

Happy New Year to you and Brad. Thank you for including me in your adventures. Hopefully I will have some Disney fun this year as well to share. :D

Anything I can do to help! I think you would enjoy the cruise a lot, lots of good food and pampering! I hope you have some Disney fun this year!
 

mikenatcity1

Well-Known Member
Thank you!



Thanks, I'm glad I can make you smile! I'm pretty sure I can sweet talk hubby into buying me the cruise nutcracker in June since we will be on board on my birthday!

How awesome!!! I have always wanted to cruise for my birthday (June). I hope you do a cruise report for that one as well! I may do one for my back-to-back coming up in 3 weeks!
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
How awesome!!! I have always wanted to cruise for my birthday (June). I hope you do a cruise report for that one as well! I may do one for my back-to-back coming up in 3 weeks!

I was thinking about doing a June trip report. A back to back cruise? How fun! Tag me if you end up doing a trip report.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
So continuing on...a quick recap...we were at Castaway Cay. We left the island early because it was a little too windy for us. So we went back to the ship and decided to go on the aquaduck, it was about a 10 minute wait but fun. Then we went to the Satellite Falls but it was really windy up there so we went down to the adult pool and swam, hot tubbed, and then hung out on some loungers.

I got this chocolate peanut butter treat for us to share from the Cove Bar. It was yummy!
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Relaxing!
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Brad fell asleep for awhile. I tried but unfortunately our chairs were under the stairs to the next adult level and someone sloshed beer while going up to the next adults only deck. That was not fun because it landed on me. I like beer but not the stale smell of it on me. So We decided to get cleaned up in the room and maybe do a meet and greet with Mickey in the atrium later.
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We got cleaned up and sat on the veranda and watched people come back to the ship.
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Brad and I wanted to get a picture of Mickey in his Christmas sweater so we headed to the meet and greet area and decided to wait in the area so we could be one of the first. But we walked down this lovely hallway first and I posed for a picture.
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
As we rounded the corner into the atrium we saw a table set up with cookies and hot cocoa. How fun and festive! Well it turns out we countered the end of Storytime with Mrs. Claus. And even better Mrs. Claus had a surprise Mickey and the gang were all out in the Christmas finery! So not only did we get a picture with Mickey in his holiday sweater but lots of characters too and now the time were were going to spend waiting for just Mickey's meet and greet could be spent somewhere else ....the lounges! We didn't get all the characters though, but we were happy with this bonus!
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So we headed to the Skyline Lounge and they were about 15 minutes or so from opening up for service. But they said we could wait inside if we wanted to and that was fine, the atmosphere is great. Well after just a minute or two they offered to take our order. Great! Brad even tried one of the specialty drinks instead of just a rum and Coke. I think he had the Manhattan, I had a raspberry type of cocktail.

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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
So we hung out at the Skyline Lounge for awhile and then we headed to the sports bar. I remembered they had a beer made just for them that was tasty and then Brad could watch some football. We played a little checkers and then I noticed they had the game Skip-bo in their board game shelf so we played that. It is a super cool card game, and if you haven't played it your should!

My beer
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Then we just wandered around and sat out on deck before deciding to play shuffleboard for a little while. I actually won! It was my first time playing.
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We also met glam Minnie!
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And for some reason we found ourselves walking through Pink, the champange bar and I took a random picture of the Christmas garland.
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Then it was time for our last meal on the ship. It was Animator's Palate that night it was a meal we were looking forward too. And even with my oncoming cold my taste buds were still in working order!
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Up next.....the rest of our meal and cruise and some time at Epcot before flying home.
 

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