The day finally came for our first cruise! We had had a great time at Disney World and visiting my brother - but I was VERY excited about the cruise. Originally I had priced other cruise lines as Disney Cruise Lines is notorious for being VERY pricey(like double Carnial/Royal Carribean). In the end I found that for September (hurricane season) the price was pretty comparable no matter who you went with - so of course - we went with the mouse. With Keith being in school September was really our only option - so we had to take the chance on a hurricane. We lucked out - the weather was AMAZING. In fact it didn't rain *a drop* until we were getting off the boat. We didn't even get any of the afternoon showers that Florida is known for while we were at WDW!
We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge the night before our cruise - so we had an early wakeup. My brother was going to drop us off and then head back to Orlando. The cruise terminal is about an hour away from Disney World and I wanted to get there early! I had read that updgrades could be done at the terminal for much cheaper than ahead of time - but it was first come first served. The terminal opened around 10 - so I planned to arrive at about 9:45.
There's our boat!!!
We pulled up to the drop-off zone and unloaded our luggage. Luckily they have porters - so I didn't see our luggage again until it was delivered to our room later in the afternoon! I brought a lot of stuff - I was happy not to have to deal with it! We got in line to go through security and soon we were on our way to check in. I was surprised - security was as tight on the boat as the airport! We quickly got checked in and then headed to the supervisors desk to check about an upgrade! We were already in a Category 4 room, with a balcony - so our only upgrade would be to a suite. They had plenty available - but I wasn't willing to pay the $$$ they wanted - so we happily stayed with the room we had. I guess getting up so early wasn't really necessary.....
We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge the night before our cruise - so we had an early wakeup. My brother was going to drop us off and then head back to Orlando. The cruise terminal is about an hour away from Disney World and I wanted to get there early! I had read that updgrades could be done at the terminal for much cheaper than ahead of time - but it was first come first served. The terminal opened around 10 - so I planned to arrive at about 9:45.
There's our boat!!!
We pulled up to the drop-off zone and unloaded our luggage. Luckily they have porters - so I didn't see our luggage again until it was delivered to our room later in the afternoon! I brought a lot of stuff - I was happy not to have to deal with it! We got in line to go through security and soon we were on our way to check in. I was surprised - security was as tight on the boat as the airport! We quickly got checked in and then headed to the supervisors desk to check about an upgrade! We were already in a Category 4 room, with a balcony - so our only upgrade would be to a suite. They had plenty available - but I wasn't willing to pay the $$$ they wanted - so we happily stayed with the room we had. I guess getting up so early wasn't really necessary.....
Once we got checked in we had PLENTY (several hours) to look around the terminal before we could board the ship. It isn't a very big space, so they have character visits and Disney movies playing to keep the kids (and adults) from getting TOO restless.
One advantage of our early arrival was that we had an early boarding number! We were in Group 2 which is right after the concierge guests. I think we boarded about noon - but I hadn't paid attention to a clock in days - so I can't be sure! Once we were on the ship we were off to lunch. Our room wouldn't be ready until about 1:30 so we had some time to kill. Again - Disney is a master of getting the maximum amount of $$$ - those ships do not sit at ALL. A cruise had just ended that morning - so they were cleaning rooms and getting everything back in order.
Lunch was pretty standard buffet fair - with a lot of seafood mixed in. After lunch I wanted to tour the spa - so we headed there. Honestly - I wasn't impressed - the spa itself was nice, but they spent the whole tour pressuring us into booking with them! After escaping that it was about 1:30 so time to see our room (or cabin - I guess that is what it is on a ship).
We were a little apprehensive as we had heard all kinds of stories about how cramped and tiny cruise ship cabins are. We were pleasantly surprised - LOTS of room! Now if we had filled it to capacity (5 people) I doubt I would have felt the same way - but for 2 us it was plenty!
I got right to work decorating our door. We had signed up for a gift exchange with people from a boards online - so that is what the red "Cruising with Mickey" is - pockets to put gifts in! It was a very cool exchange. The point wasn't to spend a lot of money - but to get to know other people and where they came from! Not only were the decorations cool to look at - but we also never walked past our door! I also loved hearing the kids walk past and yell "MICKEY"
Soon after we had made it to our room was time for the mandatory life-boat drill. They take this very seriously and they will HUNT you down if you don't show up! I had read online that this was the case so we grabbed our life jackets and headed to our station - we didn't want them looking for us!
There certainly was ALWAYS something going on - and right after the life boat drill came the sail away party. At this point we were still docked - but would be leaving very soon! We did watch 2 other ships leave a few mintues before we did - which was pretty neat. They were headed in the same general direction so we could see their lights for most of the night!
As we were pulling away the Disney employees at the terminal donned some Mickey gloves and waved us off!
I didn't take anymore pictures that first day - but after the party we headed for the evening show and then dinner. We had "late" dinner so we ate around 8:15 each evening.
Up next - waking up in the Bahamas!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
New Hotel!
Our vacation orginally included 4 nights at 1 hotel and then a 4 night cruise. Halfway through our stay at Disney (pre-cruise) we decided that we wanted to try something different. Although we liked Bay Lake Towers - the room was TINY!! Disney's Vacation Club properties have studios, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom options. We were in a studio and decided we wanted to try a 1 bedroom. After a call to reservations we found that a 1 bedroom was available at Animal Kingdom Lodge - we took it! My brother's discount made this possible - these rooms go for a lot of $$$!!
My husband and I spent our honeymoon at Animal Kingdom Lodge (although in a "normal" room) - so it has always been a favorite of ours! Disney went above and beyond with this hotel. They actually have savannas outside of the rooms - so from your balcony you can see a variety of animals! For safety you are not *too* close - but there is nothing like being able to wake up walk out on your balcony and see a giraffe munching on a tree! On our honeymoon we have one of these savannah view rooms and it was amazing! This time we went with a standard view room (to save a little $$$)- but we were still very happy with our room. They have viewing areas all over the lodge - so even if you can't see animals from you room - you don't have to go far! The inside of the room was so nice that you really didn't want to leave - I could live here!!
Outside of the hotel
Inside the lobby
Animals and animal-viewing areas around the hotel
Our SWEET room
We had only planned 3 full days at Disney World - so we were busy! We have been to Disney many times before so it was kinda nice to just do the "highlights." We picked our favorites and made it a point to do those! Normally we have 5 or 6 days - and we spend the whole time running around. I was also VERY excited about the 2nd part of our trip - a Disney CRUISE!
My husband and I spent our honeymoon at Animal Kingdom Lodge (although in a "normal" room) - so it has always been a favorite of ours! Disney went above and beyond with this hotel. They actually have savannas outside of the rooms - so from your balcony you can see a variety of animals! For safety you are not *too* close - but there is nothing like being able to wake up walk out on your balcony and see a giraffe munching on a tree! On our honeymoon we have one of these savannah view rooms and it was amazing! This time we went with a standard view room (to save a little $$$)- but we were still very happy with our room. They have viewing areas all over the lodge - so even if you can't see animals from you room - you don't have to go far! The inside of the room was so nice that you really didn't want to leave - I could live here!!
Outside of the hotel
Inside the lobby
Animals and animal-viewing areas around the hotel
Our SWEET room
We had only planned 3 full days at Disney World - so we were busy! We have been to Disney many times before so it was kinda nice to just do the "highlights." We picked our favorites and made it a point to do those! Normally we have 5 or 6 days - and we spend the whole time running around. I was also VERY excited about the 2nd part of our trip - a Disney CRUISE!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Fireworks and Dessert - what else do you need in life?
At the top of our list of "musts" at WDW is Wishes - the firework show at Magic Kingdom. In Disney's never-ending quest to take ALL of your money - they recently added a twist to Wishes - a private, reserved spot complete with a dessert buffet. Of course this "exclusive" event comes at a cost - but we were happy to shell out the cash to try this out! They uniquely called it "Fireworks Dessert Party" :) Now for anyone who has been to WDW and experienced an evening of pushing and shoving to secure a good viewing spot - you can probably appreciate the thought of not worrying about WHERE you'll stand.
When we arrived we found that a table had been reserved for us - complete with Mickey head confetti!
Our view of the castle
The dessert buffet (I think I got my money's worth in chocolate covered strawberries alone :))
Fireworks view
All in all I think it is a pretty cool thing - although doing it once will probably be enough for us! No fear - I'm sure Disney will come up with ANOTHER way to get more money out of us :)
Next post - changing hotels and seeing the other parks :)
When we arrived we found that a table had been reserved for us - complete with Mickey head confetti!
Our view of the castle
The dessert buffet (I think I got my money's worth in chocolate covered strawberries alone :))
Fireworks view
All in all I think it is a pretty cool thing - although doing it once will probably be enough for us! No fear - I'm sure Disney will come up with ANOTHER way to get more money out of us :)
Next post - changing hotels and seeing the other parks :)
Monday, September 21, 2009
More Vacation
When I left off we had finally made it to Disney and were en route to our 1st hotel. Notice I say "1st hotel" - at the time I thought it would our ONLY hotel - but well we like to keep things interesting :)
A little background on our Disney World "obsession". This is my 9th trip. ALL Of these have been to the Disney version of "the land" - although I am currently tentatively planning a visit to the California version for late next year. 7 of those trips have been in the last 6 years! My parents took me twice, and then I started Keith's "obsession" when we went for our honeymoon. Disney has about 15 hotels and we have now stayed in around 7 of them. We are always looking to try new hotels - so this had lead us to pick our 1st hotel (and what I thought was going to be the only one). With my brother working for Disney we also get a pretty fat discount (40%-60%) - so this also allows us to try out some pretty sweet places without spending all of our $$$$.
So the hotel we had chosen was Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort. For those of you familiar with Disney World this is the hotel that the monorail goes through the middle of. Our room was in a seperate tower that is considered Disney Vacation Club (think timeshare - but you can also rent like a regular hotel room - which we did). We had a cool skybridge that connected us to the Contemporary - which meant easy access to the monorail - which means getting places pretty quickly! Keith had been wanting to stay at a "monorail" resort - and Bay Lake Tower had just opened up about a month before we were there so it seemed like a good choice.
Outside of Bay Lake Tower
Our Room
So - we had just arrived at the room - which was very nice! It was fairly late (10 or 11) and we hadn't eaten dinner yet - so we headed off to find something to eat. That first meal at Disney World is always a shock to the system -as the prices are higher than at home. Once we got over that - we had a nice meal - and then wondered around the resort. Disney is very good at making their resorts a vacation all on their own! You wouldn't even need to go to the parks to have a good time here!
The view from our patio
A little background on our Disney World "obsession". This is my 9th trip. ALL Of these have been to the Disney version of "the land" - although I am currently tentatively planning a visit to the California version for late next year. 7 of those trips have been in the last 6 years! My parents took me twice, and then I started Keith's "obsession" when we went for our honeymoon. Disney has about 15 hotels and we have now stayed in around 7 of them. We are always looking to try new hotels - so this had lead us to pick our 1st hotel (and what I thought was going to be the only one). With my brother working for Disney we also get a pretty fat discount (40%-60%) - so this also allows us to try out some pretty sweet places without spending all of our $$$$.
So the hotel we had chosen was Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort. For those of you familiar with Disney World this is the hotel that the monorail goes through the middle of. Our room was in a seperate tower that is considered Disney Vacation Club (think timeshare - but you can also rent like a regular hotel room - which we did). We had a cool skybridge that connected us to the Contemporary - which meant easy access to the monorail - which means getting places pretty quickly! Keith had been wanting to stay at a "monorail" resort - and Bay Lake Tower had just opened up about a month before we were there so it seemed like a good choice.
Outside of Bay Lake Tower
Our Room
So - we had just arrived at the room - which was very nice! It was fairly late (10 or 11) and we hadn't eaten dinner yet - so we headed off to find something to eat. That first meal at Disney World is always a shock to the system -as the prices are higher than at home. Once we got over that - we had a nice meal - and then wondered around the resort. Disney is very good at making their resorts a vacation all on their own! You wouldn't even need to go to the parks to have a good time here!
The view from our patio
My brother was still working so we waited up on him. He showed up around 1am - he also wanted to walk around and check the place out - so we did. I don't think we ended up going to bed until around 3am - so the next morning came pretty early.
For those Disney illiterates :) there are 4 different parks at Florida's Walt Disney World - so there is A LOT to get done! We only had 3 full days- so we got started right away the next morning. Each park has a lot in it too - so we knew we wouldn't be doing it all - but we all had favorites that we wanted to do!
The first park we hit was EPCOT. This is a neat park that includes several pavilions of different countries around the world.
My uncle lovingly refers to walking around all of these pavilions as the "Disney Death March" :) It is a pretty long walk - but each country has things to stop and see. This park also has a few rides and a large aquarium.
Upon my insistance we hit my favorite ride 1st (and then again last- on our way out). This ride is called Soarin'. This ride simulates a hang glider flight over California.
You sit in these type of seats and then a screen in front of you has a video that was taken flying over several land marks in California. The seats move to give you a very realistic flight!
It is SOOOOO cool! Disney doesn't pull out any stops - and they actually have scent pumped in at certain parts (an orange grove and a pine forest).
We also walked around ALL of the countries and ate at the Japan pavilion at Teppan Edo. I'm not an adventurous eater - so I didn't even eat anything - but the chef that cooked right in front of us make this my favorite meal of our whole trip! She was HILARIOUS! I think it was unique that she was a female doing this - as all the other women in the place were waitresses! She kept us entertained the whole time she was cooking and my brother and husband loved the food - so it will definitely be on our list of places to go back to!
We spent most of our day at Epcot and then headed back to the hotel. That night we were headed to Magic Kingdom where we had reservations for a Fireworks Dessert Party! Next post coming soon!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Vacation - FINALLY :)
Vacation time finally came -and now I'm finally blogging about it :) I've got a lot of GREAT photos so I'll probably break it up into several blog posts. We squeezed a lot into this vacation too - so I've got a lot to talk about :)
Wednesday September 2nd finally rolled around - the week before was the slowest! Our flight didn't leave Columbus until about 5:00pm- but I had taken the whole day off. Not only did we have to get ourselves and all of our stuff (which was enough to be gone for 2months) to the airport, but we also had to get the doggies to the kennel. I don't trust just anyone with my dogs - so the kennel is out of the way for us. We trust them 100% though - so we add 2 extra hours to our drive to the airport. If we would go straight to the airport from home it would take about 90 minutes.
Here are the boys watching us load up the van :( Chewie is dark, so you can't see him - but he is there! I always feel bad when I'm packing up - but not bad enough to stay home!
Here they are in the van on the way to the kennel (which really isn't a kennel - a lady boards in her home).
Once the boys were safely dropped off we headed to Columbus! It was starting to really feel like vacation. We arrived at the airport with our 6 bags in tow (seriously -2 checked bags each, plus a backpack each). Keith dropped me off at the curb and I waited while he parked the car and took a shuttle back. For some reason he didn't want to drag all of our stuff on the shuttle, I'm not sure why :) We then used Southwest's curbside check-in for the first time. We always fly Southwest, but we usually drag our bags into the airport and check in there. The guys doing the curb-side check expect a tip; but I consider it a $5 well spent!
Within just a few minutes we were checked in and ready to go through security. We had left ourselves about 2 hours - so no rush - but we headed there anyway. We have traveled enough to be pretty prepared for security - nothing in your pockets, slip-on shoes, liquids in the seperate bag, etc. Obviously the person in front of us hadn't got the memo - it seriously took her like 10 minutes to unload everything then she had to untie her shoes, take them off, take her laptop out of the bag, and FINALLY walk through the metal detector. Did she make it through? Of course not - she still had her phone in her pocket.... I finally just walked around her and through the metal detector with no problems. Seriously it isn't that hard - I understand - it IS a pain in the a$$; but come on don't make the rest of us stand behind you while you take your sweet time doing everything you SHOULD have done before you ever got in line.
Now we were at out gate and weren't scheduled to leave for about an hour and a half. I try very hard to give myself plenty of time now - as last year I almost missed a flight! They were calling our names over the loud speaker at the airport - we were *those* people. That has only happened once though - and this time we got even MORE time - our flight was delayed about 30 minutes. I should have expected that - we were one of the last flights of the day - so even a few minutes late from several previous flights probably adds up by the end of the day!
Before I knew it we were loaded and then in Orlando pretty quickly. The non-stop flight from Columus is only 2 hours - so by the time you are up to cruising altitude and they serve drinks it is about time to come down already! I can't say enough good things about Southwest Airlines. We fly them as often as possible - as I love the ease of not having assigned seats, but having an assigned boarding order. If we go to the back of the plane Keith and I can usualy get a row of 3 seats to ourselves!
Ok - so we are finally in Orlando and now we get to figure out the maze that is Orlando Airport. That place is so huge that they have their own monorail! Luckily a good percentage of people who land in Orlando are also visiting the mouse so there are plenty of signs and people giving directions!
Walt Disney World is about a 40 minute drive from the airport - but they actually have a FREE shuttle. Now if you've been to Disney you know that nothing is free (in fact - everything is pretty much overpriced)- so this is a really nice perk! We were meeting my brother in Florida (he works at Disney) - but he was working that night so we hopped on Disney's "Magical Express" and off we were to our 1st hotel.
Next post - our 1st hotel room and finally making it to the parks!
Wednesday September 2nd finally rolled around - the week before was the slowest! Our flight didn't leave Columbus until about 5:00pm- but I had taken the whole day off. Not only did we have to get ourselves and all of our stuff (which was enough to be gone for 2months) to the airport, but we also had to get the doggies to the kennel. I don't trust just anyone with my dogs - so the kennel is out of the way for us. We trust them 100% though - so we add 2 extra hours to our drive to the airport. If we would go straight to the airport from home it would take about 90 minutes.
Here are the boys watching us load up the van :( Chewie is dark, so you can't see him - but he is there! I always feel bad when I'm packing up - but not bad enough to stay home!
Here they are in the van on the way to the kennel (which really isn't a kennel - a lady boards in her home).
Once the boys were safely dropped off we headed to Columbus! It was starting to really feel like vacation. We arrived at the airport with our 6 bags in tow (seriously -2 checked bags each, plus a backpack each). Keith dropped me off at the curb and I waited while he parked the car and took a shuttle back. For some reason he didn't want to drag all of our stuff on the shuttle, I'm not sure why :) We then used Southwest's curbside check-in for the first time. We always fly Southwest, but we usually drag our bags into the airport and check in there. The guys doing the curb-side check expect a tip; but I consider it a $5 well spent!
Within just a few minutes we were checked in and ready to go through security. We had left ourselves about 2 hours - so no rush - but we headed there anyway. We have traveled enough to be pretty prepared for security - nothing in your pockets, slip-on shoes, liquids in the seperate bag, etc. Obviously the person in front of us hadn't got the memo - it seriously took her like 10 minutes to unload everything then she had to untie her shoes, take them off, take her laptop out of the bag, and FINALLY walk through the metal detector. Did she make it through? Of course not - she still had her phone in her pocket.... I finally just walked around her and through the metal detector with no problems. Seriously it isn't that hard - I understand - it IS a pain in the a$$; but come on don't make the rest of us stand behind you while you take your sweet time doing everything you SHOULD have done before you ever got in line.
Now we were at out gate and weren't scheduled to leave for about an hour and a half. I try very hard to give myself plenty of time now - as last year I almost missed a flight! They were calling our names over the loud speaker at the airport - we were *those* people. That has only happened once though - and this time we got even MORE time - our flight was delayed about 30 minutes. I should have expected that - we were one of the last flights of the day - so even a few minutes late from several previous flights probably adds up by the end of the day!
Before I knew it we were loaded and then in Orlando pretty quickly. The non-stop flight from Columus is only 2 hours - so by the time you are up to cruising altitude and they serve drinks it is about time to come down already! I can't say enough good things about Southwest Airlines. We fly them as often as possible - as I love the ease of not having assigned seats, but having an assigned boarding order. If we go to the back of the plane Keith and I can usualy get a row of 3 seats to ourselves!
Ok - so we are finally in Orlando and now we get to figure out the maze that is Orlando Airport. That place is so huge that they have their own monorail! Luckily a good percentage of people who land in Orlando are also visiting the mouse so there are plenty of signs and people giving directions!
Walt Disney World is about a 40 minute drive from the airport - but they actually have a FREE shuttle. Now if you've been to Disney you know that nothing is free (in fact - everything is pretty much overpriced)- so this is a really nice perk! We were meeting my brother in Florida (he works at Disney) - but he was working that night so we hopped on Disney's "Magical Express" and off we were to our 1st hotel.
Next post - our 1st hotel room and finally making it to the parks!
