The First Time Butterflies--A land and sea adventure!

Tink0812

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 3, 2011
Hello everyone and welcome to my pre-trip report! I have written many a trip reports for Disney World Vacations but this will be my first time venturing over to the Disney Cruise Line side of things. I am super excited! First let's get the details out of the way:

When: September 2020
Who: Myself (29) and My DD (4)
Where: One night at Saratoga Springs followed by 4-nights aboard the Disney Dream and ending with one night at All-Star Movies
Why: Well, just keep reading the explanation below.

I first started researching Disney Cruises in the early summer of 2015. My husband and I were trying to decide what we were going to do for our next vacation and I wanted to do something different but being that most of our family vacations were to Disney, I still wanted to incorporate it somehow. He really wanted to go on a cruise to somewhere tropical but I was scared to get on any cruise ship that wasn't Disney. Shortly after I began researching I found out I was pregnant so the plans got put on hold. Then, after our daughter was born, my family had planned a big family trip to Disney when she was going to be a little over a year old so again, cruise got put on hold. Once we were done with that trip, I finally started researching again but shortly thereafter, our whole lives got turned upside down when my husband and I divorced. Now that the divorce is behind us and we have done a few more trips to Walt Disney World, I decided that I was ready to try something different. I began researching Disney cruises again. I joined several Facebook groups, frequented the DCL website, and read many posts and trip reports here. My biggest fear in life is deep water and, although I have been deep sea fishing a few times and did just fine, I was afraid to commit to a 7-night cruise in case I couldn't handle it. Also, my daughter has never been on a boat outside of Disney transportation so I'm not sure if she will be sea sick or not. I settled on a 4-night cruise because I felt like it would give us the full experience of the cruise but if we didn't like being in the middle of the ocean, it would only be for a few days so we would survive haha. I booked this cruise as soon as it became available that way I would have plenty of time to plan and pay it off.
 
Let's do some introductions:

My name is Amber and I will be 29 years old when we go on our adventure. I have been to Walt Disney World 17 times and this will be my first Disney Cruise. My favorite character is Tinkerbell. My favorite Disney Resort is Wilderness Lodge and my favorite park is Animal Kingdom. I don't have a favorite ship as this will be my first time.


My daughter's name is Natalia. She will be 4 years old when we go on this trip and she has been to Walt Disney World 3 times. Her favorite resort is Old Key West. Her favorite character is Rapunzel but she also enjoys Minnie, Moana, Fancy Nancy, and Belle.


Here is our itinerary thus far:

Sunday September 13th: Drive from central Illinois to Indianapolis, IN to catch our flight to MCO. The drive to Indy only takes about 2.5 hours and we have reservations to leave our car at FastPark and take their shuttle to the airport. If you are ever flying out of Indy, this is the cheapest (and best) parking option. Once we land at MCO we will take DME to Saratoga Springs where we rented points for one night in a studio villa. We will spend the afternoon/evening at Disney Springs. Hopefully we will secure a dinner reservation at Homecomin, The Edison, Frontera Cocina, or Maria and Enzo's.

Monday September 14th: Get up and have a quick breakfast at the resort. Pack up and board the DCL bus port-bound. Once we get on the ship we plan to enjoy lunch at Cabanas and explore the ship while we wait for our room to be ready. We definitely plan to participate in the Sailaway party.

Tuesday September 15th: Port day in Nassau. We plan to stay on the ship and take advantage of the lower crowds to enjoy the pool and other amentities.

Wednesday September 16th: this is Castaway Cay day and we will definitely be getting off of the ship to enjoy the island

Thursday September 17th: At Sea Day. Oceaneer Club time for DD and Spa time for me (hopefully)

Friday September 18th: Disembark and take DCL transportation to All-Star Movies. Drop our bags off with Bell Services then hop a bus to Magic Kingdom. We have one day, one park tickets. We will have fastpasses hopefully for Peter Pan's Flight, Barnstromer, and Enchanted Tales with Belle. Dinner will either be at Cinderella's Royal Table, Crystal Palace, or the Plaza. We intend to stay through the fireworks but can take a break at some point if needed.

Saturday September 19th: Early breakfast ADR (hopefully) at Trattoria Al Forno for the Bon Voyage breakfast then catch the DME to MCO for the flight back home


Our cruise is a Halloween on the High Seas cruise so DD has a Moana costume for that and I have a Minnie Mouse dress I plan to wear. We also have great costumes for pirate night!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top