Our Dream "Full of Firsts" 13-Night EB Transatlantic (Portugal & Spain) Cruise + WDW ~ w/pics ~ May 2023 ~ Completed!

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 18 continued.

We sat awhile letting our meal digest and then headed back down the Gothic Quarter.

We saw the spires of the Barcelona Cathederal.



We went under the Carrer del Bisbe Bridge. It still reminds me of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice.





We made our way to the Placa Sant Felip Neri. Here is where the church was bombed in the Spanish Civil War. You can still see the damage.







We bid our adios to Marc and went shopping. I was surprised to find this German gem in the middle of Barcelona.



It was so pretty inside. I found a “Spain” ornament inside.



This was a lovely pedestrian walkway.



We found the Barcelona Duck Store. DNM collects rubber ducks, so of course, she had to go shopping!



Finally, at about 4:30 PM we got some gelato!



We then headed back to the hotel at around 5:00 PM and took a break. We finished packing and weighing our luggage and I checked in for our flight.

We decided to find the restaurant that the front desk recommended the night before. Unfortunately, it didn’t open until 8:00 PM, but we were still full from our lunch so that was okay. We arranged to meet DNs there at 8:00 PM.

DH and I made our way down the Rambla del Poblenou. I heard some squawking in the trees and looked up. I saw these.







They were so cute, but loud! There were no street vendors tonight. We found the restaurant easily tonight, but we were early. It was known for its charcuterie boards.



All the flower boxes and pots along the streets were so pretty. We just don’t see that here at home.



When they opened, they found a table that would accommodate our wheelchair. The restaurant was very quant. It was also very popular and was full within minutes.





Our server did not speak English very well, and my attempts at Spanish didn’t go over so well either, so he had to grab another server to take our order.

We ordered a ham and cheese platter and a very good pear salad along with some delicious white wine.



It was the perfect way to end the trip. We finished up about 10:00 PM and headed back to the hotel, packed a few more things and went to bed

Moon over Barcelona.



We really enjoyed our time in Barcelona. It is one of my favorite cities to visit. At no time did we feel unsafe or uncomfortable. Everybody there is very nice and welcoming. It was nice to see some sights that we hadn’t seen before as well as a few familiar ones. However, the food topped our list this trip as our favorite thing! Barcelona is a wonderful city and I highly recommend visiting it if you every get the chance.

Steps: 11,130
Miles: 4.91

Next: Firsthand experience with security at Barcelona Airport!

 

[bcwife76]

Barcelona has been on my list to visit for a while but now after reading your TR it's definitely climbed to near the top of the list!

Trouble with security....uh oh Sounds like the adventure is far from over!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 19
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Travel Day – Barcelona to Orlando

Our time in Europe had come to an end. We were ready to start the next leg of our journey towards home: a stop in Orlando.

Our DNs and DJ were staying an additional day in Barcelona. We woke up early at 7:45 AM to cloudy skies. We went down to breakfast and said a final farewell to DJ and a see ya real soon to our DNs.

We had a 1:40 PM flight out of Barcelona to Miami with a connection to Orlando. It started raining in earnest at about 9:30 AM. We went down to the front desk to check out. We thought we would just go to the taxi stand a grab a taxi to the airport. But, the desk clerk had other ideas and seeing that there were no taxi’s at the stand (they had a camera), she ordered a taxi for us. So, we waited in the lobby.

Another family was waiting for a taxi when one arrived. The taxi arrived and the other family immediately gathered their belongings and headed out. Our desk clerk started running over saying that the taxi was ours. We didn’t care either way. Fortunately, another taxi arrived fairly quickly thereafter avoiding an awkward moment. We took the second taxi. We always find it amusing that we are several thousand miles from home, except every taxi we entered played American 80’s pop music on their radio!

We were dropped off at terminal 1 for American Airlines. Since we flew premium economy, we had priority check in. We had a very short wait to check in. We were checked in from Miami to Orlando, but still have to collect our luggage in Miami. We will have almost a 3 hour layover, which will be good.

After checking in, we made our way to airport security. Since they don’t have TSA Precheck in Europe we were prepared with our 3-1-1 bag and expected to take off our shoes. We wound around the ribbon barriers to security even though there was no line. We put our carry-ons, with our 3-1-1 bag, in a bin through the x-ray. We were pleasantly surprised that we did not have to take off our shoes.

We went through security with no problem.

The Barcelona Airport looks like a mall before you get to the gates. We had euros to spend so we bought some last-minute gifts for everybody watching our house at home.

DH wanted something to eat since it would be a while before we got served on the plane. We found a McDonald's. We shared some fries and a coke with lots of ice.

We walked quite a distance to our gate and had to go through passport control. Again, we wound through lines that weren't needed. We got our passport stamped and entered the gate area to wait for our flight.



I love that you can see the sea from the airport.



I spent some time reorganizing my carry-on tote to make it easier to fit underneath the seat in front of me on the plane. I took out some stuff while doing it. Airline agents were asking people to measure their roll-on carry-ons and asking them to check it. Mine was measured, it passed, but I politely declined to have it checked, it had my DSLR camera and my medication inside.

Finally, they started loading the plane. We scanned our boarding pass at 12:46 PM. We went down an escalator and had to wait a bit at the top of the jet way as more people were jammed in with us. Nobody was boarding yet.

I keep a small zipper bag with things I need for the plane that I take out and put in the pocket in front of me so I don’t have to dig in my bigger bag during the flight. The bag contains items like my earbuds, my Relief Band, a phone charging cord, and gum. When we got to our seats, I went to get my zipper bag out of my tote and I noticed it wasn’t there. I panicked for a moment and remembered that I forgot to repack it and left it on DH’s seat where we waited at the gate.

I’m just going to say right now that I have the best husband, hands down! My wonderful DH immediately got back off the plane to go retrieve it, the crew was very helpful.

Little did I know what he would face. When he exited the plan he was met by an airline agent who went with him to the seats. As he approached the seats that we had been sitting on, he found 2 security officers surrounding my little zip bag, they asked if the item was his and took him to a private room and swabbed my bag for explosives. I think he was half expecting a cavity search. They were very polite and professional.

In the meantime, while I was sitting on the plane, one of the desk agents approached me and asked for my boarding pass. He asked if I was traveling alone and I told him my DH had gotten off the plane to recover a bag that I had left at the gate. He said, “Oh, ok.” Not sure what that was about.

After the bag was cleared of any danger, they allowed my DH to reboard. Again, the agent was there to escort him back to the gate and scan his boarding pass with no hassle. He lined up behind people that were still waiting to board and was the last one to board. Whew! That was enough excitement for the day! I know it was entirely my fault, but I don’t know if I could have remained as calm as DH did during the entire ordeal. Overall, the American Airline crew and Barcelona airport security were very nice and understanding during the entire process. However, I don’t think I want to repeat it anytime soon.



It was so cool that on our window we didn’t have physical pull down shades, but we could electronically lighten and darken the glass!



I also loved that we had a full screen on the seat in front of us and could track our flight the whole way back to Florida.



We pulled back from the gate at 1:34 PM. We took off at 1:48 PM Barcelona time.



Shortly thereafter, we were served our meal. It was actually very tasty.



I love the tiny bottles of dressing.



I was pleasantly surprised that they served Pinot Grigio (it’s always Chardonnay on domestic flights), so I indulged.



I decided to watch “80 for Brady.” It was cute. I read some and monitored our flight.





We ran into some rough patches; you could tell the captain was looking for better conditions. I’m glad I had my Relief band with me.



After 8 or so hours, Miami was in sight.











There were thunderstorms near Miami. It was rough going in. But, it was cool to see lightning in the clouds. We touched down at 4:42 PM EDT. We were at the gate at 4:46 PM. Remember all those hours we lost on the ship? Well, we got our 6 hours back, just like that!

As we were standing to get off of the plane, the people across the aisle from us noticed DH's ASU Marching Band backpack. They asked if he had been in the band or had a kid in the band. Actually neither, as we both went to ASU, neither of us were in the band. However, when my DD was in high school she was in marching band and they raffled off some ASU marching band gear, and we wont it. That being said, we did find out that the couple's kids had both gone to the same high school as our DD, and were both in marching band, but several years earlier. I keep saying, "It's a small world."

We got off the plane and walked, what seemed longer than we taxied to the gate, to customs. We went through customs with no wait. The agent asked us where we were flying in from, how long we were there and if we had anything to declare. No forms to fill out or return. We answered the agent; he gave us back our passports and wished us well. Then we had to go collect our bags, which was another long walk to the baggage claim area. Once we got our bags, we had to exit at a certain place and redrop our bags that were already checked through from Miami to Orlando with the luggage attendants. From there we were directed to another line where we had to show our passport before going to wait in line for Y
TSA airport security. We then had to show our passport again along with our boarding pass to the TSA agent. We went through security and then back into the lower level of the terminal. Our gate was literally on the other side of security immediately beyond the doors.

Even though our internal clocks were at 11:30 PM, we were hungry. Since we had a 3-hour 26-minute layover, we decided to eat dinner. We went to Clubhouse 101 since it was close and we could sit down and eat. I enjoyed a nice Club Sandwich with fries and DH had a burger. After we ate, we went to sit at the gate.



We were called to board. We pushed back at 8:11 PM. We took off at 8:29 PM. Fortunately, it was a short 35-minute flight.

Everybody around us, including the guy sitting at the window seat in our row in the plane was watching the Miami Heat/Boston Celtics game on their phones.

We were flying around thunderstorms the entire way and I caught this incredible sunset.





We touched down in Orlando at 9:12 PM EDT. We arrived too early and our gate wasn't ready yet, so we had to wait. We were finally at a gate at 9:21 PM. I have to tell you, arriving after 9:00 PM on a Tuesday night in Orlando is the best time. There was nobody there.

We went down to wait, and wait, and wait for our luggage. I swear Orlando takes longer than any other airport (besides maybe PHX)! We didn’t get our bags until 10:00 PM. We gathered our bags and made our way downstairs to Mears for our ride to The Wilderness Lodge. We were put on a van right away at 10:10 PM. We had 2 stops before ours, including a non-Disney resort. Before you knew it, we were going under the Walt Disney World sign!



We poured out of our van at the Wilderness Lodge at 11:00 PM.

I made a brief stop at the desk to ask directions to our room, which had already been assigned. I received an email notification when we landed in Orlando, and we entered the elevator to the 7th floor to our Deluxe Studio room. OMG, the room was amazing. But after over 22 hours of being up, I was so tired, I just wanted to go to bed and deal with its awesomeness in the morning!

Steps: 7095
Miles: 3.24

Next: What time zone are we in?

 

[bcwife76]

Ok when your dh got off the plane and found security at your seats my heart went pitter-patter! So glad he was not held up for too long and was back on the plane with you, wow!

Wilderness Lodge! How wonderful!!!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Ok when your dh got off the plane and found security at your seats my heart went pitter-patter! So glad he was not held up for too long and was back on the plane with you, wow!

Wilderness Lodge! How wonderful!!!

Me too! It was a harrowing 15 minutes or so because I didn't know what was happening. Thank goodness we boarded the plane in an early boarding group. Alls well the ends well!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 20
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Walt Disney World

I debated about adding my experience at Disney World in this report. I don't do trip reports on our visits to the parks. But we had such a good time, and it was an extension of our cruise, so I decided to go ahead and add it.

We texted our DD the day before from the airport and told her we probably wouldn’t be ready to go to the park until about noon or so. Boy, were we wrong. Our internal clocks were way off as we were both wide awake at 6:00 AM. No sense in fighting it. We got up and got going. We let DD know we were up, but she wasn't!

We got this incredible sunrise from our incredible room.



This was our room. I feel like we hit and jackpot and definitely got pixie dusted!







DH went down to the lobby and got some donuts and juice for quick breakfasts from the Mercantile.

DD drove over to meet us at about 9:30 AM. We gave her some gifts from our trip, caught up and headed to the Magic Kingdom. We took the boat over from the resort and entered the park at about 10:30 AM.

I miss the 50th decorations, but it was nice to see the “100 Anniversary” represented.



No more 50th decorations.



The first thing we did was ride Pirates of the Caribbean. DD wanted a bear claw from one of the food kiosks in Frontierland, so I got a Mickey Pretzel.



We saw Wendall.



We then went to ride the Haunted Mansion.



DD took us around the Tangled area and showed us where Pascal hides.





Storm clouds were building. After all, what’s a day in Disney World without rain, right?



Then we headed over to Storybook Circus to catch the railroad train.



It was just about 1:00 PM, so DD got on the My Experience app and got us a Virtual Queue for Tron. We rode the train for the full circle and then got off back in Storybook Circus. We made our way to Tomorrowland.

We saw a few cycles go through the Tron canopy.





We then rode the People Mover and the Carousel of Progress. Surprisingly enough, DD’s favorite rides!





DD and I then rode Buzz Lightyear. DD rocked it. DH went to Main Street.



It was raining when we got off the attraction. We met DH on Main Street and decided to go over to Adventureland and get an Orange/Vanilla Swirl Dole Whip. I mobile ordered them and it started raining pretty hard right before we arrived at the Sunshine Terrace.



We decided to ride jungle cruise since it only had a 15-minute wait. We made it to right about the front of the line when they closed the ride because of lightning in the area. The CM was very funny in announcing it.





We waited for about 10 more minutes and after seeing more lightning figured it wasn't going to open soon, so we went over to the Tiki Room.

After the Tiki room, our VQ boarding number was coming up soon so we made our way back over to Tron. It was still raining. Normally, I don’t do this much crossing back and forth of the park, but we really didn’t have a plan and were winging it. DD ran into some co-workers and said hi as we made our way to the entrance.

I can’t wait to see the canopy lit up at night when we go in the fall.



I don’t remember every seeing the movie “Tron” and definitely did not see the sequel, but I did get the feeling of becoming part of the grid.











We got a locker for our bags.

This was our first time riding Tron. I have to say that I love the canopy, especially when the lights are on. The queue is really cool too and I love the locker system. DH is a big guy and didn't want to ride the bike, so we opted for the bench seat in the back. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long at all for it either. However, not anticipating having to ride any roller coasters, I did not prepare with Bonine or my Relief Band. I felt a bit woozy getting off.

It was a one and done for me.

After the ride we headed to our reservation at Tony's Town Square on Main Street for dinner. It was nice to sit somewhere dry and eat hot food. Our energy was fading fast so after a quick trip to the Confectionary and the Emporium, we headed back to the resort. DD left for her apartment and we enjoyed the great views from our room as the sun set.

It was still raining, so we waited to see if fireworks would be performed.

The resort piped in the Happily Ever After music. We could see some fireworks above the lodge from our balcony. I could listen to the music and see the fireworks! It was perfect.







I really love this show and I’m so glad that they brought it back.

Next, we started hearing familiar synthesized music. The Water Parade was next.





After 10:00 PM the pool closes and the music is shut off and it is really quiet. Jet lag was catching up with us, so we went to bed.

Steps: 14,097
Miles: 6035

Next: We get soaked!

 

[ukintheus]

Wow, I've just caught up and missed a lot!! Your last couple of days in Barcelona and surrounding areas looked lovely. The food and local wines are something right up our alley. I'm always pleasantly surprised when we go back to the UK as the wine selections are amazing from all over Europe and so inexpensive compared to here.

I'm glad you finally got your zipper bag back, even though your DH had to deal with quite the security effort to get it. Poor guy! LOL

And then to end up in that beautiful room at Wilderness Lodge - it's gorgeous. We stayed in the Lodge as part of our honeymoon and I was disappointed in our room overall, and we stayed on the club level but I know that doesn't change the room.

I can't believe you managed to go that whole day at MK though - you are troopers for sure!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Wow, I've just caught up and missed a lot!! Your last couple of days in Barcelona and surrounding areas looked lovely. The food and local wines are something right up our alley. I'm always pleasantly surprised when we go back to the UK as the wine selections are amazing from all over Europe and so inexpensive compared to here.

I'm glad you finally got your zipper bag back, even though your DH had to deal with quite the security effort to get it. Poor guy! LOL

And then to end up in that beautiful room at Wilderness Lodge - it's gorgeous. We stayed in the Lodge as part of our honeymoon and I was disappointed in our room overall, and we stayed on the club level but I know that doesn't change the room.

I can't believe you managed to go that whole day at MK though - you are troopers for sure!

We were pleasantly surprised how inexpensive the wine and food was in Europe. Our DNs ended up bringing a couple bottles of wine home.

Yes, DH is a trooper. I was so thankful he was able to retrieve it for me.

We have never stayed in a room like that in all of our trips to WDW. That's probably why we spent more time in it than usual too!

I honestly don't know what I was running on while at the parks. But we enjoyed spending time with our DD!

 

[RedHead0186]

We drove by the beach where Amazing Race was filmed last season along the beach in Malaga while heading to Granada. This is the beach where they had to put the sardines on a stick and cook them. Remember, Claire was a vegetarian and wouldn’t even touch the sardines, so Derek had to do all the work.

Yes, I remember that challenge! So fun you got to see some of the places they went on the race!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 21
Thursday, May 25, 2023
Walt Disney World

We slept in as we had no plan to rope drop. The life guards were practicing their CPR.



We met DD for breakfast at around 9:30 AM at the Roaring Fork. The Mickey Waffle was very good.

After breakfast, we headed down to the buses and went to the Animal Kingdom at about 10:30 AM.



It was starting out to be a busy day at the park.

We headed to the Kilimanjaro Safari. Again, DD ran into some friends. We waited 54 minutes in the stand-by line. The animals weren’t overly active this morning.













We then made our way over to the Finding Nemo: The Big Blue and Beyond show. DD hadn’t seen the new show since it re-opened and wanted to see it. It didn’t hurt that it was inside an air-conditioned building. You feel the heat more at Animal Kingdom.









The show was ok, but the performers were wonderful. I prefer the original version. After the show ended, we decided to head to Epcot. DD wanted DH to try some German grapefruit beer. We took the Epcot bus from Animal Kingdom. Of course, it was the farthest bus from the entrance.

We got to Epcot at about 2:20 PM. Epcot was celebrating the Flower and Garden Festival.









We stopped in Canada at the food booth. I know we were supposed to start in Mexico, but the food is better in Canada.

• Beef Tenderloin Tips, mushroom bordelaise sauce, and whipped potatoes with garden vegetables
• Chocolate Maple Whisky Cake

We made it around to the German Pavilion to get the beer. DH really enjoyed it and found it at Total Wine near us so he can enjoy it at home.

Meanwhile, I don’t really care for beer, so I went to Italy to get my Italian Margarita! Literally my favorite margarita!



We enjoyed our drinks in the shade at the German Pavilion.



At about 3:30 PM, after enjoying our drinks, DD and I took the friendship boat across the lake and made our way out of the park. DH walked around.

We had dinner reservations at Steakhouse 71 for dinner so we headed back to the resort to relax before dinner.

DD drove us to the Contemporary Resort for our 6:00 PM reservation. We first ate at Steakhouse 71 shortly after they opened in January of 2022 and really enjoyed it. I have to say that the last 2 times have been a disappointment. The food has been good, but something is missing. I don’t know if it’s the server or the stark white table with nothing on it when you sit down, but it just doesn’t feel like the upscale steak restaurant that it should be. We probably won’t be eating there anymore.

After dinner, we decided to go to the Magic Kingdom. DH was looking at buying a watch and the Citizen rep was going to be there.

DD decided to head back to her apartment since she had to work the next day. It started to look rather stormy, but DH and I proceeded to take the monorail over to MK. DD called us and told us it had started raining and if we wanted a ride back to the resort. DH said, no thanks, we’ll go on.

By the time we made it around to the Magic Kingdom, it was pouring, as it can only do in Florida! The monorail conductors were telling us we needed to leave and couldn’t congregate under the cover of the monorail platform. I at least had my rain jacket and wore my Keen sandals. DH borrowed my umbrella, which did little to keep him dry. Anyway, we made it down the ramps, through the main gate and to Main Street totally soaked. We made it to the Jewelry store on Main Street. DH talked with the Citizen rep and purchased his new watch and got it sized on the spot. Mission accomplished! Since it had stopped raining, we decided to ride the boat back to Wilderness Lodge. It was closer and warmer than walking to the freezing cold bus.

We made it back to our room and watched the fireworks show. The show started early.

We heard the water parade music and went to bed.

Steps: 16,702
Miles: 7.56

Next: And it rained some more.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 22
Friday, May 26, 2023
Walt Disney World

We got up around 8 and got ready for the day. We had donuts and juice for breakfast and then headed down to the buses to go to Epcot. DH and I were on our own today.

We got to Epcot at about 9:15 AM.



We headed directly to Soarin’. We love that attraction.

Then because there was only a 5-minute wait, basically a walk-on, we hopped onto The Land.







They replaced the “50” with “100”.



We walked over towards Canada, I know, I know, wrong way! No food booths were open yet.







Over through the United Kingdom, where we did a little shopping and admiring of topiaries.









We went to the World Traveler Store so I could get my passholder pin for the 2023 Flower and Garden Festival. We then made our way to France and had some pastries (a napoleon and an apple fritter) from Las Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie. There was no wait and the pastries were very good.

We walked through Morrocco. The arches and tile work reminded me of Alhambra, which had already been a week ago!







We stopped in Japan. One of my favorite topiaries.







We made our way around the rest of the world. It started raining so we went shopping in Norway. It was still raining when we came out, so we went into Mexico and rode the Three Caballeros ride.

We walked over to the festival area where they have merchandise from the festival now for a bit to dry off.

We walked around to the Guardians of the Galaxy store, but didn't ride.

20230526_125010

We had lunch reservations at Napoli at 2:00 PM and had some time, so we decided to go to The Seas, and walked on to Finding Nemo.





Afterwards we checked out the aquarium.

20230526_131536







We got out of the Seas and noticed very ominous looking clouds headed our way. We hotfooted our way to Italy and Via Napoli for lunch to beat the rain. We were successful. It started raining after we were seated.



The lunch was delicious! We didn’t get dessert at Napoli so we headed over to the bakery in Norway. DD recommended the triple chocolate chip cookie.

We decided to call it a day and went back to the resort.

We had a great view of the lake and the geyser.





One of our favorite things about the Wilderness Lodge resort is Geyser Point. It is the outside lounge next to the lagoon. We went down to Geyser Point for dinner and a drink. I had the Teriyaki Wings and Edamame along with a margarita! DH got the grapefruit beer he had in Germany.



We relaxed in our room and watched fireworks again from our balcony. The water parade went by and we went to bed.



Steps: 17,497
Miles: 7.9

Next: A character dinner to remember.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 23
Saturday, May 27, 2023
Walt Disney World

We got up relatively early this morning at about 7:00 AM. I guess our internal clocks were acclimating. We took our time and went down to have breakfast at the Roaring Fork. It was a beautiful day and no rain was expected!

After breakfast we headed down to the boat dock to get the boat over to Magic Kingdom. We got there at around 9:20 AM.



DH really likes to ride the cars and trolleys up and down Main Street. Unfortunately, you can only do it early in the morning before the crowds are so bad that the cars can’t make it down the street. This morning after we walked into the park (always on the right side) we found a yellow car just waiting at the curb, so we hopped in.





I love riding the cars and having the guests be totally oblivious to their surroundings. Even when the horn is blown, they ignore it. Especially the ECVs. Haha

We made our way to the castle.



Since we missed riding the Jungle Cruise the other day, we headed there first.

Watch out, they spit!



It wasn’t one of our better skippers. He over did the elephant’s memory joke!















Then, since we were there, we rode Pirates! Our DD texted us that she was in the park, so we made our way over to meet her in Fantasyland. But first, on our way we ran into my favorite bear, Big Al!

This is the first time that I had seen him roaming and not waving from the balcony! I was even wearing the right shirt!





We made our way over to meet up with DD and decided to ride Ariel’s Under the Sea ride. Not my DH’s favorite, but DD and I love the music!

We then stopped into Gaston’s Tavern and had lunch. I usually get their incredibly good cinnamon bun, but we opted for their ham sandwiches instead. DH found a nice shaded table outside.



We decided then to go see the Country Bear Jamboree before DD had to leave for work.









We walked DD out to the front gate so she could drive herself around to the Cast Member parking lot.

We rode the railroad around to Frontierland.



DH also likes to ride the Liberty Belle.











The crowds weren’t too bad and it wasn’t too blazing hot either. I decided to go to the Sunshine Terrace and get another orange/vanilla swirl Dole Whip. Yum!! DH went and got an ice cream sandwich.

We went to see Philharmagic. We then walked around to Tomorrowland and rode the People Mover again.

We had dinner reservations at Crystal Palace at 4:25 PM.





DD was working as a character attendant with Pooh Bear. We got to see her at work. We are so proud! We enjoyed visiting with all of Pooh’s friends. They knew we were DD’s parents so they gave us some special attention!



We first took DD to Disneyland when she was a year old. We took her to the character breakfast at Plaza Inn, which included Pooh. She literally chased him around the restaurant at a year old. It’s funny to now see her chasing after Pooh in her 20’s, for her job!

After dinner we headed out of the park to pack up for our final leg home.

We really did enjoy our room and I requested it for our return trip in October.







I checked in for our flight home. We caught the last Happily Ever After show of our visit from our balcony.



Steps: 14,119
Miles: 6.32

Next: A special farewell!

 

[bcwife76]

Oh my gosh, how cute are the three of you with Pooh??? Our kids first trip to Disney, oldest had just turned 5, youngest was still 2 and we also did a character breakfast at Plaza Inn....the youngest gave Pooh the BIGGEST hug, bigger than any other character during that breakfast, she would not let go and he just kept hugging and rocking her. One of my all time fave park memories.

That view is gorgeous, I'd be requesting it again too

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Oh my gosh, how cute are the three of you with Pooh??? Our kids first trip to Disney, oldest had just turned 5, youngest was still 2 and we also did a character breakfast at Plaza Inn....the youngest gave Pooh the BIGGEST hug, bigger than any other character during that breakfast, she would not let go and he just kept hugging and rocking her. One of my all time fave park memories.

That view is gorgeous, I'd be requesting it again too

I haven't met a Pooh yet that doesn't love to give hugs. Pooh actually got down on the floor for our DN's DD when she was 6 years old to cuddle with her!

It's funny, when DD was young and we took her to Disney, she wasn't scared at all of the characters in full costume, but shied away from any of the face characters. Now she works with both!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 24
Sunday, May 28, 2023
Walt Disney World/Travel

Originally, we were not planning to go into the park today. I had made reservations at the Kona Café at the Polynesian for breakfast. We had Mears picking us up from the Lodge to take us to the airport at 2:10 PM.

DD was able to trade for a morning shift at the Town Square Theater as an attendant for Mickey Mouse this morning at opening. So, I cancelled our Kona Café reservation and made a park reservation for the Magic Kingdom.

We were up very early and saw this beautiful sunrise.



We finished up our juice and donuts and headed to the dock to catch the 8:00 AM boat to the Magic Kingdom for rope drop. There was no line at the Passholder gate and we were in the park.

We headed straight to the Town Square Theater and were first in line to see Mickey, well, actually DD!



Right at 8:50 AM, they opened the door and let us in to the queue.



We stopped at the line they indicated and we heard a knock on the door in front of us. Next thing we know, the door is open and Mickey and DD stuck their heads out! They led us into Mickey’s room for pictures. It was a wonderful Magical Moment with DD and Mickey.



We left Mickey. We noticed the red car sitting at the curb underneath the train depot so we decided to ride it up Main Street to castle. The driver was very personable and very nice. She gave us some tips about working the Halloween parties for DD. We were fortunate enough to see the Dapper Dans on the horse drawn trolley car.





We were let off at the castle. I was a little bummed because they drained the moat around the castle to take down the 50th decorations, so I couldn’t get my picture of the castle reflected in the water. Next time!



We were getting a little hungry so we went over to Sleepy Hollow and ordered a Strawberry Funnel Cake. It was our first time trying it. It was soooo good!



It was time to head back to the resort so we could check out and leave our bags with the bellhop. We happened to see the same car and driver waiting near the castle, so we rode the car back down Main Street.

We took one last look around the Emporium and left the park (through the left side).

We got back to the resort and gathered our belongings from our room. We went down to the counter to check out and request the same room for next visit in October. The Cast Member at the desk was very nice and also on her Disney College Program. She was also from Scottsdale Community College from back home. It truly is a small world!

We headed to Geyser Point for a bite to eat for lunch. Bella from Charlotte, NC was our server and she was wonderful. I gave her, the desk clerk and our Main Street driver cast compliments through the app! I had the sesame chicken wings for lunch. They are so good! This duck wanted some of my fries. Sorry.



Afterwards, we went to sit in the lobby. It is one of my favorites of all the resorts.





At about 1:50 PM, we went outside to wait for our bus in front of the resort. We talked to the greeter for a bit then were approached by a Mears driver asking our name. He was driving a van and didn’t go to normal pick-up place. We loaded our luggage, waited a few minutes for another family, picked up a few more people from another non-Disney resort and headed to the airport.

While the airport was busy, we went through priority check-in very quickly. We were nervous about our luggage weight, but squeaked by at 49.6 pounds. Whew! The TSA pre-check had no line, however, TSA wanted to re x-ray my carry on. The agent asked if I had heating gloves in it. In Florida, really!?! Ah, no! He re-checked it, then pulled it out to have it inspected by hand. In the meantime, the agent that had to hand inspect it was waiting for another drama to finish. When the agent was ready, he pulled 2 more bags before mine. I told the agent there were magnets in the bag, he opened the top zip pouch, confirmed it and let me go. We then stopped at Wendy’s for a Frosty and went to the gate and waited to board. There was some confusion about a gate change, but the gates were literally right next to each other, so we stayed where we were.

We got the gate issue settled and boarded our plane. We settled in our seats. We got served something to drink and a dinner. I watched “Maybe I Do” on the flight. It was meh.

There were storms over the southern part of the country and of course heat over Phoenix so we had turbulence pretty much the entire flight. Good thing I had my Relief Band!

We landed in Phoenix at about 7:06 PM MST.

We made the long walk to the farthest baggage claim belt, just to be moved 3 belts closer to where we originally had been. We got our luggage, texted our driver, and found out he was literally across from the doors where we got our luggage. Yay! He drove us home and thus ended our adventure!

Steps: 7,858
Miles: 3.52

These days, the only reason we go to Disney World is to visit our DD. This was a very nice relaxing, no stress visit with her. We enjoyed spending time with her in the parks and even more so watching her while she worked. I foresee many trips to Disney World in our future!

Next: My final thoughts!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

The time has finally come for the end of my trip report.

My final thoughts in no particular order.

The Cruise

Overall, the cruise was wonderful. 6 at sea cruise days in a row were a little much for DH, but the port days made up for it. I enjoyed all of the activities I attended on the ship and was kept pretty busy. Yet, something needs to be done with the Trivia games.

I found that I prefer to have my sea days mixed proportionately with my port days. There were too many sea days up front and port days at the end. Our Iceland cruise was perfect. It had a couple port days and then a sea day in between the next port.

I probably should have taken more time to just relax. Yet, there was so much we didn’t do!

The ports were awesome and except for the DCL tour in Cartagena we thoroughly enjoyed all of our tours!

The Food & Restaurants

While I got tired of the menu items, overall, the MDR food was good and I had no complaints about that.

We were very close to other tables in the MDRs, which I wasn’t used to and it was a little uncomfortable.

The MDR service was another issue, but we can’t always get perfect serving teams. They’ll work it out.

The food, as well as the service at Remy’s and Palo, was outstanding!

The food from Flo’s was ok. I missed not being able to grab fresh fruit.

I enjoyed Vanellope’s a couple of times, but really enjoyed the free ice cream more!

The Lounges/Bars

We enjoyed the lounges and I’m sorry we didn’t get to enjoy them more at night, specifically Skyline and Pink. I did, however, miss the French Quarter Lounge on the Wonder. It was always such a nice place to meet up with plenty of light to play trivia and games. The District Lounge on the Dream was too small and too dark.

There was a lot more adult seating outside by the Cove Café than on the smaller ships that was nice and relatively quiet and we enjoyed that space. However, there didn’t seem to be a lot of roaming servers around the adult area. We had to go to the Cove Bar a few times to order drinks.

The Entertainment

We really enjoyed the entertainment staff and got to actually talk with a few. They were very engaged with the guests. They weren’t just going through the motion like we experienced last summer. It was refreshing.

The performers were outstanding and I enjoyed all of the Broadway style shows onboard. We also really enjoyed Michelle Knight. One of the advantages of the longer sailings is that DCL will bring Broadway/Disney stars on to perform. We have heard quite a few and enjoyed every single one!

DCL did a good job in trying to get a variety of entertainers onboard. But, not all of them were my cup of tea.

I really enjoyed listening to Bruce Kimbrell speak about Disney. However, DH thought it would have been nice to have a speaker on board to talk about the ports as well.

The Crew

The crew was wonderful. The crew always had a friendly greeting when you saw them anywhere on the ship. Lee seemed to really enjoy what he was doing and always had a smile when we saw him.

The officers were out in the Atrium every night before dinners and very happy to engage in conversation with you.

Our room steward Kadek was the greatest.

Silver Anniversary at Sea

I was disappointed in the 25th celebration. I feel bad for all the guests that cruised after us and couldn’t get any 25th merchandise because Disney couldn’t plan appropriately to order and restock items while in port. The fireworks show might have been cool, but that was all they planned other than the toast in the atrium and characters roaming around a very crowded floor.

The Ship

I’m really glad the ship was not full. I’d hate to be on that ship when it is. The character lines were long the entire cruise so we didn’t get to do a lot of character meet and greets. But we did see guests who did nothing but character meet & greets and didn’t seem to mind the wait.

I didn’t mind the size of the larger ship. We eventually got used to where everything was after a few days of going to the wrong floors. There was a lot more walking to get from point A to point B so I didn’t feel guilty using the elevators more than the stairs.

We found the halls on the upper stateroom decks to be narrower than on the smaller ships, especially when people had to store their EVC and wheelchairs in the hallway. DCL should have more HC accessible rooms. At certain points of the day, our DNs couldn’t get through with their DD’s wheelchair because of something out in the hall and had to back-up and use the cross hallways to the other side to make their way down to the elevators.

We really enjoyed having the larger family verandah stateroom! Even though it was just the 2 of us, I’m glad we went with the larger room. The extra space between the sofa and the verandah was so nice. We really liked the round shower/tub as well. I missed the cabinet spaces on the smaller ships next to the closet, but the drawers that were provided on the vanity met our needs.

Our room was in the aft of the ship, but it was still farther away from the aft elevators than I’m used to. We ended up using the mid elevators more, not that they were any closer, but because it was easier to get up to Deck 12 from midship rather than walking through Cabanas or down to get to the restaurants, with the exception of Animator’s Palate.

I hope you all enjoyed reading about our adventures as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you.

I don’t currently have any future cruises planned, although I did get a placeholder while onboard. We are, however, seriously considering an Adventures by Disney tour to Ireland next year.

Until next time, stay healthy and cruise on! See ya real soon!

 

[ukintheus]

I fell behind on your WDW portion, but just caught up and it sounded like a great end to your cruise/WDW combo trip as you got to be with your daughter and enjoy the parks without the crazy rush to try and get it all done. That's pretty much our MO for parks these days which is why we don't go very often. $$ v relaxation value isn't doing it for us.

The TA is definitely on our bucket list but we will have to wait until we have plenty of vacation as I want to enjoy pre and post cruise time while I'm over there.

Thank you for taking the time to share it all, it's been a lovely read!

 

[bcwife76]

All good things must come to an end. I really enjoyed your TR, thank you for sharing it all with us

 

[motherdaughtercruisers]

We just booked this cruise yesterday! Wondering how far in advance do I need to make arrangements for port excursions? We will be gold (so have cruised before all Caribbean, but not to Europe - although we have travelled to Europe). Also, we are booked in room 10524 which if I am not mistaking is Starboard (which I could be mistaken! If that is the case just let me know), but my question about this is that I was wondering if you wished you had kept your port room or do you think it would really matter? We chose this room because we always book this room and I am a creature of habit.

Also, loved your TR! It is really helping me plan our TA!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We just booked this cruise yesterday! Wondering how far in advance do I need to make arrangements for port excursions? We will be gold (so have cruised before all Caribbean, but not to Europe - although we have travelled to Europe). Also, we are booked in room 10524 which if I am not mistaking is Starboard (which I could be mistaken! If that is the case just let me know), but my question about this is that I was wondering if you wished you had kept your port room or do you think it would really matter? We chose this room because we always book this room and I am a creature of habit.

Also, loved your TR! It is really helping me plan our TA!

Thanks for reading!

I don't think the side of the ship really mattered. Sometimes we looked out over the port and sometimes we looked out over the harbor. Either way, you could always see the other side from another deck. I usually sail on the port side, but found I didn't mind the starboard side. I really enjoyed our starboard room when we left Lisbon because we could enjoy the sites without leaving our verandah. Otherwise there's not much to see when you're crossing the Atlantic. The only time I thought I would regret not having a port side room was when we passed through the Gibraltar Strait. I thought we would be able to see the Rock of Gibraltar, but we couldn't. So, seeing the lights of Africa was so much cooler.

It was more important to me to have a room without connecting doors.

We started booking our private excursions about 9 months out so we could ensure they had availability. If you're using DCL provided excursions, you can always look those up under Port Adventures in advance, but cannot book them until 105 days before your cruise.

Have a great cruise!