We’ve been on 3 cruises now, which hardly makes us veterans (or does it?), but it’s enough that we’ve really started to learn what we like and don’t like. Unfortunately, those cruises were on 3 different cruise lines, so you can’t necessarily apply everything you like/dislike from a cruise over to a new cruise line, but you can apply quite a bit to help make decisions about the next cruise.
One of those things is that we have always selected our actual room. We have never risked it by booking a guarantee…and trust us, the discount has most certainly enticed us, but we would be so disappointed to book say a guarantee balcony and then get stuck with a balcony that has a severely obstructed view on the 2nd deck. Because, let’s face it, that’s our luck.
We had balconies on our first 2 cruises. After not using it much on the first cruise, we didn’t think we needed it….but Brett convinced me on our second cruise and we used it so much that we thought we would be “Balcony Snobs” from then on. But funny how having a toddler makes you rethink, well, just about everything.
When I first thought about booking a cruise for my birthday, Disney wasn’t even on the radar, let alone anything more than an inside room. Just call me el Cheapo. But, just as he usually does, Brett talked me up to Disney and at least something with a view. Salesman, that sneaky Brett is.
We considered getting a balcony, but Trent was going to be 19 months old at that time…smack dab in the middle of his “I do what I want, climb on everything and throw whatever I can get my hands on” phase. We didn’t need to pay for remotes being thrown overboard, let alone not needing to be a worried mom the entire time, so we opted for an Oceanview.
We were really intrigued by the Category 08A rooms. Category 08A rooms are one category below the balcony rooms, but still considered Oceanview because it’s a “porthole” room. However, we didn’t get just one porthole, we got two very large portholes! These were large enough to sit in and enjoy the view without the worries of a balcony I mentioned above.
Another major benefit of these rooms is the amount of SPACE they have. There was plenty of room for Trent to run around, which is so important at his age…because if they can’t run around and release that energy, it comes out in the form of a tantrum…usually at dinner. So we had plenty of space for storage (all of our suitcases and clothes were completely out of view) and plenty of running-room for Trent. There were also 2 tvs…one for adults and one for Trent
And the final major benefit I’m going to mention is the bathroom. Although it’s not the split bathroom I’ve heard so many people like that Disney offers, it had an actual tub. The shower and tub were just like at home, just smaller….not one of those stand-up only showers in most cruise bathrooms that hardly allow any wiggle room. There would be no way to give Trent a bath if we didn’t have the tub.
Location: Room 5522 was on Deck 5, Forward Starboard Side. It wasn’t as close to elevators as we would have liked and it definitely took us a day to figure out how to get to our room depending on which elevator we took, since we were near the theater and one of the hallways leading from the mid-elevators to our room was non-existent, so we had to go around the theater to get anywhere on our floor. We could take the forward elevators up to Deck 11 and we would be near the ice cream machines, but everything else required us to walk all the way to the Aft, including Cabana’s, Flo’s and all 3 dining rooms. While we absolutely loved our room, we didn’t like the amount of walking to get to the places we used most…with a toddler. Although, Trent was delighted to press the elevator buttons every time.
You can view the layout for Deck 5 (as well as all the decks on the Disney Dream) on Cruise Critic here.
Well, that’s enough talking, how about some photos?
This first one was taken by the door/bathroom. To the right is the desk/sitting area with 2 chairs and the couch that turns into a single bed. To the far right and not pictured is the very large closet, where each of us had our own section.
This next photo was taken over by the closet. Just look at all that floor space! SOOO much bigger than a typical stateroom. The door on the left is the bathroom and the door by the bed is a connecting door if you had friends/family staying in the connecting room. The fridge is located in that cabinet directly underneath the tv.
If you want the couch made up into a bed at night, just tell your stateroom attendant and he will make sure it is done every night and then made back into a couch for during the day. Also, that little ottoman-like table opens up for more storage.
The next photo gives you a good picture of the entire layout and of how HUGE those portholes are!
Here, you can kind of see the padding on the bottom of the porthole that is supposed to make it comfy to sit on. However, maybe my butt is too wide because I found the width of the “seat” to be a little on the small side to where I couldn’t lay down and relax. There’s lots of storage room underneath the bed for suitcases and such.
Cruise ship bathrooms aren’t known for their spacious luxury (unless you’ve spent the big bucks), but we were pretty happy with this one. The tub/shower combo was perfect for a toddler and us adults had room to move…although Brett said he was about an inch from his head hitting the ceiling, so if you are over 6 feet tall, you may find yourself leaning over for your shower.
You can read my full trip report from this cruise by clicking here, but I wanted to share this post for anyone out there that might be searching for photos and opinions about this room. We looked up forum posts, photos, videos and anything we could find while trying to decide on a room and all of it helped so much…so I hope this helps someone else out there too.
If you’re like us, the anticipation of your next vacation is half the fun…planning each fun activity you’ll do, dreaming about the delicious food, and counting down the days until you reach zero and you’re there!
Here’s a fun craft you can make to help you count down to your next Disney vacation - or any vacation with a few tweaks! What I love about this project is that you can be creative and make it your own by using different colors, stickers, etc.
Here’s what you’ll need (all found at an arts/crafts store):
The first step in this project is to paint the wood: the plaque and the small wooden rectangles. You could also paint the easel, but we chose not to. You can choose any color paint for all the pieces, but I chose a Mickey theme. The plaque is painted black on top (his head/ears) and red on the bottom (his shorts) and the small rectangles are yellow (his shoes). Use painter’s tape to make the line straight on the plaque. Let all items dry well before going to the next step.
Next, drill two holes towards the top of the plaque, two holes in the back of the easel, and one hole towards the top of each small wooden rectangle. Then, insert the screw hooks into each hole on the plaque and easel. The ones on the plaque will be used to display how many days left in your countdown, and the ones on the back of the easel will be to hold the extra numbers.
Next, place the number stickers on the wooden rectangles. We used 6 rectangles front and back. You’ll need (2) #1, (2) #2, and 1 of every other number. This will allow you to count down from 90 by tens, and then each day from 32 to 0. You can also choose to make more rectangles and use more numbers if you want to count down from a higher number. Lastly, place the Disney sticker on the plaque and write “Days until our†with the paint marker.
Now, you’re ready to count down to your next Disney vacation, no matter what time of the year you go!
If you loved this fun DIY, please consider sharing by pinning this photo to Pinterest or sharing on Facebook! Thanks for all your support!
This post was featured in last month’s issue of WDW Magazine. The new issue was just released and you can find a delicious Disney recipe from me, plenty of Brett’s amazing photos and many more great Disney articles. To learn more about WDW Magazine, visit their page here.
This year, we attended Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP) for the very first time on Sunday, December 8, 2013. We’ve been to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) twice (including once just this past October) and were excited to try this party for the first time. This post will include lots of photos from that night, as well as a few videos and some tips along the way. It’s a long one, so go grab some egg nog and enjoy!
To be honest, we were a little nervous going into the party. At MNSSHP in October, Trent was getting sick, so he did not want anything to do with everything. He didn’t want to wear his costume AT ALL. He wanted to be held the entire time and I had to hold him and push the stroller at the same time because Brett said a stroller didn’t go with his costume (I won’t even elaborate how the rest of that conversation went). It felt like it was 150 degrees out. Our timing was off on everything. We arrived at 7pm, when the party started, to a so-packed-you-can’t-even-move Main Street. We didn’t even get to enjoy the atmosphere or have a family photo taken of us because Trent ended up falling asleep for most of the night. Even worse was that we came home and Brett was disappointed in his photos.
We did NOT want a repeat.
It’s one thing when you have expectations and they don’t go as planned for a regular day at the park when you have annual passes….but when you spend an extra $130 for a one night party, it can be extremely disappointing when things aren’t as fun as you hoped. I know this is always a risk with kids, but we were going to try our hardest to make this a much better party.
Way before we even left for our trip, we became super germaphobes so Trent wouldn’t get sick. Sickness is the quickest path to a bad evening. Luckily, we held any potential sicknesses at bay. He was teething at the time, but we equipped ourselves with Orajel to stop any pain with the quickness.
The second thing was that we didn’t go to a park that day. We woke up at a nice hour (and not 6am), we leisurely strolled to breakfast, played at the playground, swam a little and took a long nap. We didn’t do anything to tire us out. We took it easy and it was nice.
The third thing was that we ate RIGHT BEFORE heading to the party. We all enjoyed a late lunch at the hotel, enough to fill us up and not need food for a while. A full baby = a happy baby.
The fourth thing was that we arrived at 4pm, instead of 7pm. Although the party doesn’t technically start until 7pm, they have the decorations up. So we were able to show up and take photos without the convergence of the two crowds (leaving and arriving) on Main Street.
So, just those 4 changes made such a big difference. We had an absolutely wonderful night. Here’s the details
But first, a video of our fun-filled night!
We arrived at the Magic Kingdom parking lot a little before 4pm. We have the WORST luck when it comes to parking spots…we are usually all the way at the back, which makes for the longest walk to the tram. We were nervous, but we got the very front parking spot. Hallelujah! My foot was very thankful, which was still achy from when I fell down the stairs a week prior. The odd thing was that there were a ton of people waiting for the tram. It was actually faster to walk to the Transportation & Ticket Center…so we did. Go figure, we save walking by being the first parking spot and then we walk all the way to the TTC. We beat the tram we would have been on by several minutes, so it was worth it.
We’ve been taking the Ferry a lot more, so that’s what we did. When we got off the ferry, a monorail had just dropped off a bunch of people, so the lines for bag check were extremely long.
The entrance was separated into two sections…to the left was for people not going to the party (yes, they were still letting non-party ticket holders into the park…), and to the right was for people going to the party. We had printed our tickets at home, so the cast member quickly calls a manager over to scan them and then we are given wristbands. The wristbands are for cast members to quickly see that you are a paid party-ticket holder and not someone who just stuck around from earlier in the day.
When you walk into the park, I didn’t get a Christmas smack in the face like I got a Halloween smack in the face when we entered for MNSSHP. Perhaps it’s because of the time we got there. It was still light out, so you couldn’t see any Christmas lights, but we did take the opportunity to take some family photos by handing our camera to the Photopass lady at the end of Main Street.
Ok, I know Brett’s a photographer, so we are slightly biased about other photographer’s skills, but this lady was terrible. We could hardly understand her, she told Brett to move to one side but not Trent and I, so there is a big gap between us and my head is covering the castle. When he tried to help her zoom out because she kept saying “Castle don’t fit, castle don’t fit” she snatched the camera back and was like “D’uh!” and then proceeding to joke around saying “Oh this camera so heavy, I can’t do it” insinuating that we were treating her like she didn’t know what she was doing. And then we looked at our photos and it confirmed that she indeed didn’t know what she was doing. They were horrible…so we thought maybe the ones from her camera would be better (and we looked online after we got back home and they were even worse).
Luckily, we went to a guy a little further up Main Street and as soon as we handed him our camera, he said “Oh, this is my favorite lens” which let us know that he indeed knew what he was doing. Those photos turned out so much better.
At this point, there weren’t any party events going on, so we strolled to the left towards Crystal Palace so he could scope out a potential fireworks spot. Brett had 2 objectives that night…good parade photos and good fireworks photos. He already knew the parade location he wanted and that we would have to show up around 7 to see if it was available, so he needed to determine the fireworks location too.
After that, we continued strolling around until we made our way back behind the castle. Brett started to take photos and I remembered to check our Fastpass+ selections to see if we still had any. Before the trip, I made selections just in case we showed up to the park early (there is no Fastpass+ during the party), and there was 15 minutes left of our Peter Pan FP+! So Brett stayed to take photos while I hauled booty back to park the stroller and then make it to Peter Pan. The wait for FP+ people was non-existent - we walked right on. Non-FP+? 50 minutes. Yikes.
This was the first time Trent has ridden Peter Pan and he seemed to really enjoy it. He kept leaning around to see everything. He likes Jake & the Never Land Pirates on Disney Junior, so I wonder if he recognized Captain Hook.
After the ride, we met back up with Brett for our other FP+ that was left, Winnie the Pooh.
We then decided to slowly make our way towards Main Street to scope out our preferred parade viewing spot. Along the way, we grabbed some of the complimentary (i.e. paid for in your overpriced party ticket) cookies and hot chocolate. They also have apple juice and apple slices available. The cookies are basically sugar cookies and the hot chocolate and apple juice come in cute little coffee cups with lids on them.
There were plenty of people already claiming their parade spots, but luckily, our preferred spot was still open, so we decided to camp out…for an hour and 45 minutes…with a 1.5 year old. The very first thing I did was grab a bucket of popcorn and drinks to go along with the Christmas party cookies we already had. Remember…full baby = happy baby. Trent had fun feeding me and himself piece of popcorn and cookie.
There was plenty of tickling, peek-a-boo, questions (“Where’s your belly?”, “What does a cow say?”), but we did it without a meltdown. Success! I would have let him out of the stroller to move around, but that boy would have taken off running and had me chasing him down Main Street.
It was also nice that it snowed on Main Street, which Trent found fascinating. It was 80 degrees out and snowing…only in Florida! lol
Right before the parade started, the cast members walked down Main Street asking people to hold up their hands to show their wristbands to make sure everyone that was there indeed paid to be there. In not-so-surprising fashion, there were several people that had been camped out for a parade spot that didn’t have wristbands and were trying to stay over from the regular park admission earlier in the day. I wonder how many people get away with it…I also wish they would stop letting non-party attendees at an earlier hour. I know Disney wants to bank on as many people as possible, but as we sat there waiting for the parade to start, non-party ticket holders were still filtering out of the park at 8:30pm…an entire hour and a half after the park closed for them. As someone that paid over $60 a ticket to be here, I don’t like seeing other people benefit from it for free and I don’t like them crowding the streets either. Humph, I say!
In true never-fails parade fashion, as soon as the parade started, some little girl came pushing through in front of us (we had a rope in front us, so she came from behind us) nearly knocking over our GoPro that Brett just spent several minutes finding the perfect spot for. We yelled “No!” and she went back behind us and then she (along with another girl) appeared behind me, leaning all over the stroller and pushing up on me. I had to turn around and say “Excuse me” several times, but even worse was that Trent wanted to pay them more attention than the parade…looking up, trying to talk to them and bouncing all around in the stroller. We better watch out if he’s already trying to be a little ladies man.
I’m sorry, but some parents just suck for not teaching their kids manners and respect. I didn’t wait in this spot for almost 2 hours for you to be all up in my business. If you wanted your child to have a good spot, you should have waited here too. The lack of parade etiquette just blows my mind. But I digress…
The parade was really fun…the characters don’t interact with you as much as the regular parade, but it was very enjoyable. Here is a video of the entire parade. We waited 2 hours to watch it from this spot and you don’t have to wait a single minute…my present to you!
Here’s some of Brett’s amazing photos from the parade.
Our favorite part is at the end with the toy soldiers. Their marching is so exciting. That was probably the part Brett was looking forward to photographing the most.
After the parade, we headed to the spot Brett wanted to view the fireworks from…only to find a Photopass location set up there, two ladies with their tripods set up, and a sea of elderly people in scooters. Figures.
We hung around to see what was happening and we overheard that the two ladies with tripods were going to move into the Photopass spot once he was finished right before the fireworks. There was more than enough room for them and Brett, so Brett made his way up there to be nearby for whenever this transitioned occurred. While waiting, other more outspoken people showed up and asked to stand here and there and everywhere, but luckily, none of them affected where Brett was and he was pretty happy with his spot.
As we were waiting, I kinda stood in the worst spot…I was a few feet behind the Photopass guy and everyone thought I was in line, even though I was standing in the grass. I either had to tell people I wasn’t in line or had people asking me as soon as they walked up.
However, I’m really glad for this because I heard someone ask “Are you in line for Photopass?” so I turned around and said “No, you can go ahead.” and she said “I read your blog!”
Say what?! I’ve never had someone I didn’t know tell me that before! I was so happy at what a coincidence it was too…at Magic Kingdom during the Christmas party because I was in a bad spot and probably annoying people…lol. She had recognized Trent. Sometimes, I often wonder if anyone more than family and friends reads this little blog of ours…and I will remember this when I doubt it. It made my night. Thanks Giana and I hope you enjoyed the party.
Of course, as soon as the fireworks started, Trent shut down. He put his head down on my shoulder and passed out. I guess he just isn’t a fan of them any more and doesn’t even want to look at them. I just happened to be standing in the spot for the Photopass (they don’t take photos during the fireworks) and that sneaky photographer took several photos of us. I just love Disney cast members.
We are big fans of the special event fireworks because they almost circle the park and provide something a little extra than normal Wishes. However, I do prefer HalloWishes over Holiday Wishes, as this one didn’t really have a storyline, just some Christmas music as the soundtrack. It was fun and cheery, though, as compared to the spooky, villainous HalloWishes.
Since Trent was now sound asleep in the stroller (my arms are FREE!), we stopped by the treat location at Crystal Palace to stock up. We didn’t get all that much throughout the night, but the lines at these treat locations were WAY shorter than any trick-or-treat line at MNSSHP. Trick-or-treating took too long at MNSSHP, so I was glad that I could walk up and grab a treat at this party without it eating up a big chunk of time (<—intentional corny pun).
We stopped at various locations to take photos of the decorations. Nothing was overly decorated and I feel like the majority of decorations were in the Main Street and Hub area.
One of my favorite sights….Cinderella Castle all lit up for Christmas.
We didn’t watch the 2nd parade, since we got our preferred location for the first. Instead, we just kept strolling. We had kind of decided to just slowly head towards the front of the park to leave, taking photos along the way and making a quick stop at the Christmas Shoppe. When we arrived at the front of the castle, a show was about to start, so we stuck around to see that…including the creepy white horses.
The show was fun and I recorded bits and pieces of it. I’m glad we caught the final show of the evening, as opposed to seeing one of the earlier shows. There was hardly anyone there and much of the front of the castle forecourt was open to just stand anywhere you wanted. Too bad Trent missed it.
We stopped in the Christmas Shoppe to pick up a gift for the winner of a contest I held at my Disney site (www.TheBestof Disney.com) and our yearly Disney Christmas ornament. We chose one of the new ear hat ornaments…Dumbo!
By the time we left the Christmas Shoppe, it was about 11:50 and had been about 9 hours since we last had a real meal (popcorn, cookies and hot chocolate doesn’t count), so we grabbed 2 hot dog meals at Casey’s Corner. Man, for some reason, those cheesy hot dogs and fries hit the spot. Even better was that we didn’t have to wait to order and had a nice spot outside watching everyone filter out of the park. We finished eating shortly after midnight and sloooowly made our way to the front of the park.
Brett stopped to take photos at the train station just as Trent was waking up. It must have been his power nap because he now had so much energy and was running around like crazy. He could barely sit still for this photo.
After a bit, we could see the cast members making their way down Main Street to gently push people out of the park. I definitely feel that they push a little harder after the parties, as opposed to normal operating nights. We ended up being one of the last people out of the park, but it was well worth it (to Brett, anyway) to get photos of the castle and Christmas decorations without a flagpole, Christmas tree, garland, and media boxes in the way. A completely unobstructed view of Cinderella Castle…the stuff Disney photographers dream about.
By 1pm, we were standing by the entrance taking photos and Brett had a CM standing next to him just as he picked up his camera to leave. Brett hadn’t noticed him, but as soon as he did, the CM said “Have a nice night!” It was kind of like he was saying “Now get heck out of here so we can go home!”
We were on the last ferry of the night (that we could tell), joined by one other family and several CMs. After arriving at 4pm and leaving at 1am, I can say we got our money’s worth out of this party, much better than the Halloween Party (which I haven’t written about yet, but will). We don’t ride any rides during the parties, but we try to participate in most of the special events throughout the night. The highlight of this party was the parade and sitting on Main Street with all the “snow” falling on us.
With that being said, as much as I love Christmas and the jolly feeling surrounding this party, I still prefer the Halloween party and getting dressed up along with hundreds of other people. The feeling is definitely different and whether you would like one or the other depends entirely on your opinion on either of the holidays.
I haven’t decided if we will make this party a yearly tradition, but if we do, we are definitely picking this night again. It was the Sunday after the Christmas parade was taped (that gets aired on Christmas day), so Brett gets to take photos without anything obstructing the castle and it didn’t feel crowded at all. In fact, it felt like a ghost town compared to the Halloween party. Sundays are cheaper than Fridays by a few dollars, but I’ll take what I can get since there are limited Passholder discount nights and they are only in early November.
We combined this with a visit to the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios the night before, so it was a nice weekend filled with Christmas cheer
For the most recent issue of WDW Magazine, which was an entire issue on Christmas at WDW, I contributed to the section “Bringing the Magic Home” with a recipe for chocolate-dipped Mickey head sugar cookies…with sprinkles, of course!
At first, we tried to take the easy way out and bought pre-made sugar cookie dough…the kind in a tube at the grocery store. Brett rolled it out flat, cut the Mickey heads and then put them in the oven…where they puffed out far beyond being recognizable as a Mickey head. Fail.
After those were consumed (we had to hide the evidence of mistakes, duh!), Brett found this recipe for rolled sugar cookie dough…which was a success! Apparently, the rolled recipe is what you need to make sure the cookies keep their shape. So here is what you’ll need:
and for the sugar cookies (insert the amount of servings on the linked recipe page to determine the amounts you’ll need of each ingredient):
Butter, softened
White sugar
Eggs
All-Purpose Flour
Baking Powder
Vanilla extract
Salt
Once the sugar cookie dough is made, roll it out flat and use a Mickey head cookie cutter to cut out each cookie.
Try to maximize the cuts to make as many cookies as possible!
Place them on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Cook according to the recipe. Once they’re done, place them on a rack to cool and sprinkle with extra sugar (optional).
Once the cookies have cooled, melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. Make sure the bowl is deep enough so that the chocolate will cover the top of the Mickey head when dunked.
Dunk the top of the Mickey head cookies into the chocolate, then lay flat back on the cookie rack.
Sprinkle Mickey sprinkles on top of the chocolate. We got these sprinkles in WDW!
You can let the chocolate harden or eat them soon after the chocolate cools. I think Trent enjoyed them very much….
These are also perfect for our Disney Milk-and-Cookies for Santa platter (also from WDW!).
I’m also really excited about the article I contributed to the next issue of WDW Magazine, which is all about the best time to visit WDW. The magazine will be packed with all kinds of great advice and fantastic photos (including many from Brett). You can learn more about WDW Magazine here.
Right now, we are less than 30 minutes away from our Happy Place!
We have 4-5 days worth of fun and food planned and we hope you have made the awesome decision to follow our travels - perhaps the best decision you’ll ever make
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You can expect Food & Wine deliciousness, Halloween Party hijinks, Magic Band and Fastpass+ testing and an attempt to stay at the parks until/past closing (Magic Kingdom closes at 2am on Monday night/Tuesday morning!!)
As always, a trip report will follow…hopefully it won’t take as long as the last 2 to get it up, but we have a lot planned as far as photos and videos go, so we’ve got high hopes. I know I have said in the past that we would limit our list of “things to do” while at the parks, but we just can’t help it because we love sharing everything with all of you.
I have a few posts scheduled to go up while we’re gone - which, let me be honest, is something I am really proud of myself for because I am terrible at scheduling and preparing posts ahead of time…which is why I am a notorious 10-11pm poster.
With that, I leave you with the epitome of reactions when seeing the Walt Disney World signs…courtesy of Family Guy.
The Photographer's Wife Parenting, Disney, Travel, Reviews & Other Randomness
