Trip Report What time is it? MICKEY TIME. August 2014

Is it entirely possible to have two extremely amazing Disney trips in a row? One would think the first trip’s fun and happiness could not be duplicated again…


Unfortunately, I am home. Real home. Not my Disney World bubble. Getting over this harsh reality is like a kick straight to the stomach, after eating a really gigantic meal. What is this life I live? Why am I not waking up on property? Oh the harsh truths we must face when exiting that bubble! Writing a trip report will help cure my Disney depression, it’s a statement I keep uttering to myself while I slowly grip the fact that my trip is OVER. WHAT?! Months of planning and excitement and poof! DONE. GONE. Is it time to go back yet? PLEASE?! Peeling the magicband off my wrist was painful.. PAINFUL I TELL YOU!!



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My name’s Nicole and I am a Disney freak. (I’m the girl on the left.) If there ever is a rehab program for people who are overly obsessed with Disney, you can bet some of my friends, my boyfriend, and my family would check me right in. I love the little mermaid, and change my favorite park depending on the day. I don’t know what my favorite ride is, some days it’s Soarin’, some days it’s Splash, sometimes it’s even Tower of Terror. Whatever is the last ride I’ve been on, that’s the one I will probably tell you. Ugh, I’m indecisive!


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For those who didn’t follow along on my pre-trip report, here’s a quick recap. I flew to Disney World August 17th, and stayed at the Wilderness Lodge until August 21st. The lovely people of WDWmagic convinced us to upgrade from Art of Animation since we had a pin code. From there it was off to Port Canaveral, for my first ever Disney cruise, let alone cruise. Had three nights on the Disney Dream, and then back to Orlando for a day at Downtown Disney. I came home late August 24th, which gave me 8 full days immersed in Disney. This trip was the second trip with my best friend; we went last July for 10 days and had a wonderful, unforgettable time. We knew Disney missed us. :)



Originally, we were supposed to go in June and stay at Art of Animation, then go on the Dream, but due to massive amounts of snowstorms in lovely New Jersey this past winter, we had to postpone to August. Now everyone was warning me about the heat, and let me just tell you all, YOU WERE RIGHT. It may have been the hottest, sweatiest (sorry!) trip of my life, but it was one that I will never forget.


Shall I begin?


It all started not too long ago, at the wee hours in the morning.


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I slept at my friend’s house so her parents could take us to the airport for our flight at 5:59 in the morning. We would be in Disney at 8:30 A.M. Who needs sleep?


Made it though security fairly quickly, and decided it was perfectly acceptable to eat our first meal of the day at 4:30 A.M.


First food picture of the trip! LOL.. and it’s in bags.. Big fail, Nicole.


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Probably not a good idea to drink iced coffee when you are aiming to sleep on the flight down, but with all that excitement I guess it didn’t matter! Do you guys remember the commercial with the little boy who says, “I’m too excited to sleep!” Yep, that’s me in a nutshell on Disney eve.


We took so long eating, we didn’t realize our plane had already boarded and as we were walking to the gate, we heard them announce the final boarding call. We booked it! Could you imagine if we missed our flight? Oh the horror! I don’t know why we didn’t realize that you’d need to be on the plane prior to 5:59 in order for it to take off. Hey, it was early. I’m using that excuse :)


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We made it on and were off! My friend slept for maybe 20 minutes, I didn’t sleep at all. Too much excitement! We read and chatted about what was yet to come.


We landed early (YESS!!!), and navigated our way like champs to the B side of the airport. Last year we got lost…this year we were pros. Haha.


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We scanned our matching pink magic bands at the magical express counter, saw that first mickey head light up green, and we’re off! It was time for our first Disney ride of the trip…a bus ride!


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Wilderness Lodge, get ready for us!!
 

mrdrift

Well-Known Member
Exciting start to the cruise, that is on my list of things to do with the family. I'm so happy that you will share your experience with us and I know you did take lots of pictures during the cruise. Looking forward to the continuation of this trip report.
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
The Dream looks amazing! I have never been on a cruise but if I ever did one I would definitely do a Disney cruise! I've been told that Disney cruises are very children oriented and not as great for an all adult party so I will be curious what your take on it was. I'm assuming it was great based on your proclamation that you can't wait for your next cruise :)
 

PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
YAY you're finally on the cruise!!!! Isn't the Dream just a beauty? I too was shocked at how huge the ship was! I mean, I knew it was big, I just didn't picture it that big!

My sister LOVES those Bug Light margaritas! We should have them deliver stuff to us, although we will have a car so we plan on stopping, but good to knoew for the future! :)

Love the sail away pics. I cry EVERY. TIME. they play the horns. EVERY. TIME!!!!!

Can't wait to read more!!
 

DebDeb

Well-Known Member
We love the Lodge too! Go at Christmas time! It is absolutely lovely! We check in at the WL in 8 days! Kinda sad not to see the decorations this time, but we are doing the MNSSHP 2 maybe 3 times during our stay! Loving your report! I now have a Disney Cruise on my bucket list!
 

Maggie Mae

Active Member
So excited to read about your cruise! Your WDW portion of the report was OUTSTANDING as usual! your initial trip with your friend is the reason I am going with my sister!! Can't wait to read more!!
 

ginadee

Well-Known Member
The Dream looks amazing! I have never been on a cruise but if I ever did one I would definitely do a Disney cruise! I've been told that Disney cruises are very children oriented and not as great for an all adult party so I will be curious what your take on it was. I'm assuming it was great based on your proclamation that you can't wait for your next cruise :)
I had to reply. Ive been on 2 disney cruises. Im in my 40's and went once with my dad and once with a girlfriend who was not a Disney fanatic like me and she loved it. We were never around kids that much. Not like I had been on carnival and RC. There is an all adult pool, all adult restaurants, the bars of course are all adult and one end of their island is all adult. Disney truely caters to every age group. Ive been on several cruises and Disney is by far the nicest. First class all the way. GO! I cant imagine anyone regretting it. You need to check out the TR of the all girls cruise on this forum.
 

prfctlyximprct

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wilderness lodge during the christmas decorations is picture perfect! My favorite resort.
Looks like you guys had a blast on the cruise. Can't wait to hear the rest of it.

I want to at least stop over at this resort if I ever get to go during Christmas time! It just screams holidays to me!

Looking forward to the cruise stories! Loved your WL pictures. Totally agree about WL at Christmas. We stayed there for Thanksgiving last year and it was beautiful. The resort screams with that old Christmas feeling!

It really does! It brings me back to the days of Ole Kris Kringle, and the Coca Cola polar bears if this makes any sense LOL

Exciting start to the cruise, that is on my list of things to do with the family. I'm so happy that you will share your experience with us and I know you did take lots of pictures during the cruise. Looking forward to the continuation of this trip report.

You must do a cruise! I cannot give enough praise for how amazing it was! Thanks for reading!

Been waiting to read about the cruise. We've booked our first trip on the Dream for next summer. Sounds like you guys had a good time.

YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE IT. I don't know if there's one person on the face of the planet that would dislike a Disney cruise.
 

prfctlyximprct

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The Dream looks amazing! I have never been on a cruise but if I ever did one I would definitely do a Disney cruise! I've been told that Disney cruises are very children oriented and not as great for an all adult party so I will be curious what your take on it was. I'm assuming it was great based on your proclamation that you can't wait for your next cruise :)

I've heard that starting out with a Disney cruise is like setting the standard too high.. this cruise was absolutely amazing! I don't know how it could have been any better. I am still calming down from it! I would have to disagree completely about being children oriented! You really have to put yourself in the position to find the children activities, decks, etc to even be around it at all. I loved the cruise, and think it was something wonderful to do in my mid twenties. I am currently trying to convince my boyfriend to do the Alaskan one with me!

YAY you're finally on the cruise!!!! Isn't the Dream just a beauty? I too was shocked at how huge the ship was! I mean, I knew it was big, I just didn't picture it that big!

My sister LOVES those Bug Light margaritas! We should have them deliver stuff to us, although we will have a car so we plan on stopping, but good to knoew for the future! :)

Love the sail away pics. I cry EVERY. TIME. they play the horns. EVERY. TIME!!!!!

Can't wait to read more!!

IT WAS HUGE! I was not prepared for it to be so big! Delivery was awesome and really easy, we weren't sure if we could walk to the liquor store from the port but if you have a car that's even better! I cried, I'm joining the club LOL

We love the Lodge too! Go at Christmas time! It is absolutely lovely! We check in at the WL in 8 days! Kinda sad not to see the decorations this time, but we are doing the MNSSHP 2 maybe 3 times during our stay! Loving your report! I now have a Disney Cruise on my bucket list!

ENJOY YOUR TRIP! I will try not to be too jealous :)

So excited to read about your cruise! Your WDW portion of the report was OUTSTANDING as usual! your initial trip with your friend is the reason I am going with my sister!! Can't wait to read more!!

Thank you soooo much for reading and being so sweet!! :)
 

prfctlyximprct

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We made our way to the upper deck, which is adults only BTW! We could feel the boat moving, so we wanted to go get a first hand view! We had filled our Disney mugs and were off to see what this cruising thing was all about!

It's weird to explain the feeling of being on the ocean. We both had on sea-bands, and took a good amount of Dramamine, but in all honesty, I think we were just paranoid. We could have done without! This was our first cruise ever... so we were newbies. You can definitley feel the boat moving, but it doesn't really affect you. The only time I really felt weird was when I closed my eyes in the shower and rinsed out my shampoo, or when we were walking to our room in the back of the boat while it was moving forward. It felt strange, but not nauseating! I was prepared to feel like I was going to blow overboard.. I guess watching the Titanic is not good preparation for a cruise!

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Here we go!

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We waved to smaller boats that we passed, and people waved back! Things were looking up for us, HAHA! The views and the wind in your hair, it was just crazy!

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Life does not get any sweeter than this right here.

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A nice couple took this photo, in exchange for us taking theirs. Thank you so much to other people traveling in pairs to offer a switcher-roo! It helps so much :)

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We watched land disappear and then decided it was time for a drink refill. Back to our room we went! We couldn't resist taking some more balcony shots, it looked awesome with the ship moving! And look at how blue the water is!

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We went to the adult pool for a bit, swam and relaxed. The pools are much more refreshing than the Disney parks pools, the water was a bit cooler! Not like bath water!

We even sat in the hot tub for a bit. And the hot tub has clear glass, overlooking the ocean. OMG. It was such a gorgeous view! I kept thinking we saw dolphins, but maybe I had a bit too much margarita, LOL!

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It was getting late and we wanted to make the Golden Mickeys. We decided to head back to our room and shower. We had the early show, since we had late dinner at 8. Of course, we ended up being lazy and sat on our verandah and watched the ocean pass by.

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The sign does not forbid singing like lunatics! :)

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Turns out we ran out of time, and did not get a chance to shower! Oh well! That's what perfume was made for right?! We freshened up and got ourselves looking presentable.. I swear there is just not enough time in the day!

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We headed down to watch The Golden Mickeys. My friend snapped this photo before they made the no photography announcement! They are really strict with no pictures!

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The show was better than Broadway. And I've seen the Lion King and Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. This was impressive! We both kept looking at each other and proclaiming "We're on a boat." How is this real? The Golden Mickeys was super cute! I cried during "Can you feel the love tonight." That song gets me every time! The music, the dancing, the costumes, I felt like I was in NYC. But I was in the middle of the freaking ocean!

Afterwards, we took some time to browse in the shops. So many cute things! I may have purchased a few Disney cruise line items :)

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We had some time to spare before dinner, so we went to put our purchases back in our cabin. We ended up in our favorite space again of course.

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With windblown hair, and chlorine cleansed bodies, we couldn't have been happier. This is what vacation is right?!


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Have a wonderful weekend everyone :)
 
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Lyear

Well-Known Member
I have loved reading your report the last few days and finally got caught up. It has been such a joy to read. You and your friend obviously had such a great time. I love how carefree you and your friend seem to be. What better place to relax and just have fun than Disney.

Really enjoyed the section on the parade, especially with how much character interaction you had. It's amazing how Disney can really go above and beyond in giving their guests a once in a lifetime memory. Looking forward to reading through to the finish.
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
I had to reply. Ive been on 2 disney cruises. Im in my 40's and went once with my dad and once with a girlfriend who was not a Disney fanatic like me and she loved it. We were never around kids that much. Not like I had been on carnival and RC. There is an all adult pool, all adult restaurants, the bars of course are all adult and one end of their island is all adult. Disney truely caters to every age group. Ive been on several cruises and Disney is by far the nicest. First class all the way. GO! I cant imagine anyone regretting it. You need to check out the TR of the all girls cruise on this forum.

This is awesome news!! I never really had any desire to go on a cruise until reading TRs on here about the Disney ones (I actually did read the all girls cruise one and it looked like you guys had an awesome time!) I am very excited to hear that its not too "kiddy" and honestly even if it was I don't think it would have bothered me since I act like a kid at Disney anyway haha
 

Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
So glad to hear about the kids thing….I really am interested in going on a Disney cruise now :) Maybe I can convince some people to go! I must have talked to people who generally don't like Disney because I'm sure they would have said the same thing about Disney being too kid oriented but I would completely disagree…probably because I'm obsessed with Disney like the rest of us on this forum haha
 

ginadee

Well-Known Member
This is awesome news!! I never really had any desire to go on a cruise until reading TRs on here about the Disney ones (I actually did read the all girls cruise one and it looked like you guys had an awesome time!) I am very excited to hear that its not too "kiddy" and honestly even if it was I don't think it would have bothered me since I act like a kid at Disney anyway haha
I actually have not done the girls cruise but really hope to sometime. It looks like so much fun.
 

DVCPluto

Well-Known Member
Fun trip report! Thanks for sharing!!

I may have missed this in the pages, but did you make your ears? They are great!! Would love to know how you created them as I would like to make pluto ears - mickey style. :)
 

Mom@disney

Well-Known Member
Yeah! We are on the cruise part of the trip report! I'm am so itching to go on a Disney cruise,but I'm so so terrified that I would be sick the whole time. Your words are encouraging...maybe someday.
 

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