/Cruising on a Dream Full of Frights and Friends: 10/12/13-10/19/13 TR completed 4/21/2014 - Page 33 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Your breakfast sounds wonderful. Sorry about that creepy guy at the gas station.
I'm not a fan of driving either - just too boring as I can't read in the car and driving make me tired.
What a great last evening with Kelly, Mike and the boys!
We love 1900 Park Fare for breakfast with those characters, it is the best!!!! So much fun! A great way to end your trip!
I am looking in to doing a land/sea vacation for my oldests Sweet 16 in 2016 because of yours and Kelly's TR. It just looks like so much fun!
Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed reading along! And your pictures, of course, are just amazing!
Last day with breakfast was a great way end a trip. Love the pictures with Hope and the charactes. Also love your signature picture. What a creepy guy. Glad that you guys made it home safe and sound. Sorry to see this trip come to an end.
Thanks so much, and thanks for following along.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
Your breakfast sounds wonderful. Sorry about that creepy guy at the gas station.
I'm not a fan of driving either - just too boring as I can't read in the car and driving make me tired.
I think I can still read in the car, but doing that makes me tired to begin with, so I'd be a horrible passenger since I'd be asleep for most of the ride.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
What a great last evening with Kelly, Mike and the boys!
We love 1900 Park Fare for breakfast with those characters, it is the best!!!! So much fun! A great way to end your trip!
I am looking in to doing a land/sea vacation for my oldests Sweet 16 in 2016 because of yours and Kelly's TR. It just looks like so much fun!
Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed reading along! And your pictures, of course, are just amazing!
Your going to have so much fun! When do you leave?
If I didn’t say it enough in this TR, this was one of the best cruises we’ve ever been on. We’ve sailed with Disney three times before this, but for some reason those cruises can’t even compare to this one. I’m going to say it was a combination of the wonderful service we received and the incredible company we had to share it with. From now on, it may end up being a requirement that Kelly and her family travel with us anytime we go on a Disney cruise!
Transportation
I think all of you know what my opinion of this one will be, but just in case there was any doubt in your mind about my feelings on driving to Florida, I can honestly say I hope to never have to do that again. It wasn’t horrible, but if I can avoid it in the future I will. Hope was an angel in the car, but I hated watching her sleep sitting up, I hated that she got sick from the long car ride and lack of nutritious food, and I hated the feeling of walking to my car after getting off the ship…that was very weird.
If it comes down to driving in order to actually be able to go on vacation, then I won’t hesitate to do it again, but if I can afford to fly, then that’s the way I’ll be traveling from here on out.
Accommodations
Pre-Cruise: I’m so glad I found out about the 40% off port parking discount because if I hadn’t, we would never have discovered the hidden gem that The Fairfield Inn and Suites really is. I don’t know if all of them are as nice as this one was, but if they are, then I wouldn’t hesitate to book a room. The parking deal alone made it a no-brainer for us, but then you add in the clean room and free breakfast, and it automatically became an even sweeter deal.
Cruise: This was the first time we’ve stayed in a Deluxe Oceanview Family Suite, and once again, I highly recommend this category of stateroom. If having a verandah isn’t a deal breaker for you, then this is a great option. The porthole is HUGE, the room has more than enough storage space and having the split bathroom was a nice touch, plus we never felt like we were on top of each other.
Post-Cruise: We’ve been lucky enough to have stayed at AKL more than a few times, and once again I have no complaints. We booked a standard view room and somehow ended up with a savannah view that was conveniently located a short distance from the lobby. For the first time we were able to enjoy all the free activities the resort had to offer, and because Hope enjoyed it so much, we plan on taking my brother, SIL and niece over there for the departure day of our upcoming trip in May.
Food
I’m not one to hide that fact that I think the one big area where Disney is lacking with their cruises is in the food department. Of all the Disney cruises I’ve been on, I can honestly say that the only good meals I’ve ever had were in Palo, and that’s a restaurant that you have to pay separately for. I’m happy to report that I can finally say I had some wonderful meals on a Disney cruise that were actually in the main dining rooms. Of course the champagne brunch at Palo was once again superb, however, that was expected because it was Palo. Out of the four nights we dined on the cruise, there was only one time I didn’t think my meal was up to par, so in my opinion, 3 out of 4 ain’t bad.
We also enjoyed the quick service locations as well, and I think Cabanas had a wonderful selection of food for their breakfast and lunch services. Unfortunately I can’t comment on their dinner service since we never had the opportunity to visit during that time.
In Disney, we only visited one table service restaurant, which was 1900 Park Fare. We loved everything about it, and I’ve added it to my list of favorites.
Cruise
The Disney Dream was wonderful, the CMs were amazing and the kid’s activities were great. We loved every single thing about this cruise, and can’t wait to go on another one. To think of taking Hope on any other cruise line while she’s young seems silly because Disney just does kid’s stuff so well. We felt comfortable leaving her in the clubs especially knowing we were just a phone call away if she needed us. But she never did. She never wanted to leave. It gave us the perfect combination of adult time and family time. It’s like having a free babysitter on hand whenever you need a little break.
The Halloween activities were the only thing I felt was lacking in the Disney department, and that doesn’t reflect on the entire cruise because it’s a special event type of thing. I felt like it was unorganized and inaccurately advertised, but the kids still had fun, and that’s all that matters.
MNSSHP
This was my first time at this party, and I thought it was amazing. In my opinion, it was much better than MVMCP, and I’m not even a fan of Halloween. The parade was out of this world, and I loved how they brought out the hard to find characters. This was the first time I’ve stayed until the end of a party, and I wish it would have lasted even longer.
This was by far one of the best trips I’ve been on in a while, not that any of my past trips weren’t great, but this trip had that extra something special. Yes, I’m looking forward to my upcoming trip in May, but it will be hard to beat the feeling I had with this one. Thank you so much Kelly for allowing us to join you on your vacation, and for making this one of the best trips I’ve enjoyed with my husband and daughter. I can’t wait for our next one to be just as special, if not more. Love you!
Yes, I’m getting ready to leave for my next Disney trip in less than 3 weeks, and no, I haven’t even started my pre TR. I plan on doing it, but I wanted to finish this one up first. So as soon as I get the first update started, I’ll link it to this TR for those of you who would like to join in on that one as well. But first, I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for once again following along on one of my drawn out TRs. It still amazes me that so many of you enjoy reading what I have to say. Haha! Plus, it lets me form so many great friendships here, and meet so many wonderful and amazing people that I wouldn’t have had the chance to otherwise.
Great wrap-up to a fabulous trip. I'm always impressed that people with families and jobs manage to write TRs at all! This one was fun to read, loved the photos, and especially loved eavesdropping on all the fun your two families had together. One of my favorite things about PP is being able to watch all these adorable children grow up. Doesn't matter if you don't have time to do a PTR for the next trip, but you'd better do a TR when you return!
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Awwwww........buddy, I have been catching up and reading along, with no time to ever comment, but I'm just smiling away here at all the pics of my dear friends and knowing just how much fun you were all having.
Great TR!!! We are having a Skype night soon before our trips...........YES???
BTW, I just LOVE all you did at AKL, I love spending days at the resorts!!!
I love reading your report as I learn so much from you and everyone else. Thank you for sharing your trip with us and look forward to reading your next adventure.
The Land/Sea won't be until June 2016, but we have an Oct trip we are planning now. It was actually a May trip that got cancelled. I think we would have been there when you are there, actually. It would have been May 17-24.
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We’ve sailed with Disney three times before this, but for some reason those cruises can’t even compare to this one. I’m going to say it was a combination of the wonderful service we received and the incredible company we had to share it with. From now on, it may end up being a requirement that Kelly and her family travel with us anytime we go on a Disney cruise! 
It wasn’t horrible, but if I can avoid it in the future I will. Hope was an angel in the car, but I hated watching her sleep sitting up, I hated that she got sick from the long car ride and lack of nutritious food, and I hated the feeling of walking to my car after getting off the ship…that was very weird. 
The parking deal alone made it a no-brainer for us, but then you add in the clean room and free breakfast, and it automatically became an even sweeter deal. 
however, that was expected because it was Palo. Out of the four nights we dined on the cruise, there was only one time I didn’t think my meal was up to par, so in my opinion, 3 out of 4 ain’t bad. 
We loved every single thing about this cruise, and can’t wait to go on another one. To think of taking Hope on any other cruise line while she’s young seems silly because Disney just does kid’s stuff so well. We felt comfortable leaving her in the clubs especially knowing we were just a phone call away if she needed us. But she never did. 
She never wanted to leave. It gave us the perfect combination of adult time and family time. It’s like having a free babysitter on hand whenever you need a little break. 
and no, I haven’t even started my pre TR. 
I plan on doing it, but I wanted to finish this one up first. So as soon as I get the first update started, I’ll link it to this TR for those of you who would like to join in on that one as well. But first, I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for once again following along on one of my drawn out TRs. 
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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