Happy Monday everyone!!!
We are down to only 8 Mondays until our cruise. Who's packed?
Well, whether you are or aren't, I am sure you could use a break from the holiday mayhem.
So, I have prepared a Forget Me Not that will work for all of your holiday fun as well as our vacation.
This weeks Forget Me Not is Your Appetite!
As with most cruises, food is in abundance aboard the Dream, but this is Disney, so you know that there won't only be a lot of it, you know it will be good!
The eating starts as soon as you get on board. You have your choice of venues for your first vacation meal (and whether you have eaten already on that day, or on your journey to the boat, this is still your first vacation meal. What is so great about a vacation meals? No Calories of course!!!!!). A majority of the cruisers will head up to Cabana's for their first taste of Disney (which will be open from the time we board until about 3). While up on the pool deck (not far from the Buffet), you will find Flo's Cafe -
home to 3 food stations—Luigi's Pizza, Tow Mater's Grill and Fillmore's Favorites - where you will find just about anything you are looking for from healthy fast food choice with things like paninies, salads, and fruit to traditional comfort foods like hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, chicken, and pizza. Save room for desserts. You will be able to find your frozen treats at Eye Scream, or you can most likely find me at Vanellope's Sweets and Treats!
Your final option is a sit down meal in one of the main dining rooms. I am not sure which one, but it will be listed on the Navigator you are given at check in, or you can ask any cast member.
You are going to want to give you body a chance to digest that lunch and go out and exploring the ship before dinner, because that is where we will get a grand 3 course meal (well not including the breads). No matter where you are assigned for dinner the first night, rest assured you will get a tummy full. And by the way, here are a few dining room tips: if you see more than one thing you are interested in, don't be afraid to ask to try both (but be warned you will get a full helping of each, and every waiter we have ever had was clearly raised in a 'clear your plate' type household); and, if you have an allergy that you have not previously notified Disney about, don't worry, you still can notify your server or the Matre de (another warning though. If your allergy is one that you can take medicine for, such as a dairy allergy, and you still want to have that food item, do not alert them about this allergy [for example, I am allergic to lactose and dairy solids, but I love ice cream and chocolate. Thankfully, I have medicine that I can take that allows me to have as much as I want of each of those unlike my fish oil allergy that makes any great surf and turf options a no go]). They will not let you order anything with that food item in it. On the other hand, if you can not take medicine for it, please do notify them straight away. I would also recommend asking to speak with the head chef in the Buffet, and Palo (if applicable).
The next morning will bring around more dining options (which will be repeated on all except for 2 of the remaining days). For breakfast, you can choose from room service (no charge, but tips are recommended), formal dining room, or buffet. Your Navigator will tell you the operating hours for each option. Then for lunch, all 3 of those options are available again, plus the 3 offerings up on the pool deck, and the Quiet Cove Cafe.
Then for dinner, we again are back to our rotational dining. You can also dine at the buffet, room service, pool deck, or Palo for dinner.
The only 2 days that will be different, will be the day that we are at Castaway and debarkation day. On the day at Castaway, you will have the added option of eating at Cookies BBQ on Castaway (no additional charge). Which is the best BBQ (asides from Animal Kingdoms Flame Tree) East of Texas. The other difference is our last morning on board (which we only have the option of formal dining room for breakfast- which will be in the same dining room you ate at the night before).
Now if you are a Hobbit, and are used to Early Breakfast, Early morning snack, second breakfast, mid morning snack, early brunch......you get the idea..... you will be fine. However, if you are not, you may want to pace yourself. I was once told a typical cruiser gains 5 pounds a day on a cruise. I have yet to experience that, but I can see how it would be possible - if any of the vacation food had calories!!!!!
Have a great week.
~Tink~
) and all your medications (including a small first aid kit - bandaids, antiseptic wipes, cough drops, ginger gum or candies, and so on.
Leave all your inhibitions at home, and don't worry about what others may think. You are on the cruise to have fun, so live it up. 
keep in mind my Forget Me Not about your appetite. If you are enjoying the Disney food as much as I know I will be, all of this dancing will give you the opportunity to burn off some of those calories (yes I know I said vacation calories don't count, but who wants to take the chance). Plus you are burning the calories with out stressing about exercise, because you are having FUN!!!!
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and after wind
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in prep mode currently. If you raised your hand for any of them, take a deep breath and remember that planning is supposed to be HALF the fun, not ALL the anxiety. Even though it is still, technically a school holiday, I am going to step into teacher mode for a minute. We are going to let P = Planning, C = cruise, and F = Fun (oh, and we can not forget S = stress). In a balanced equation, 1/2 P + 1/2 C = 1F. Now if you try to add -1SP + 1/2 C it will not = 1F. The result will be -1SP + 1/2 C = -1/2 F. If I lost you with all of the algebra 
, basically, what I am saying is don't let yourself get so stressed with your planning and packing that it takes away from the fun of anticipation, and the fun of the vacation.
