But I wasn’t going to be picked up by the Disney bus until 12:30, so I had six hours to kill until it was time to head to the ship.
When Masayo and I were ready, we headed down to Kouzzina for breakfast. I got the breakfast skillet. It was an omelet with thick pieces of delicious bacon in it and a tasty Greek cheese on top. It was served over diced potatoes and sweet potatoes. It was very yummy!
After breakfast, we headed back up to our rooms. Our bags were magically picked up and we wouldn’t see them again until the cruise. We arranged for bell services to come pick up our carryon bags and Owner’s Lockers, and soon were on our way to Disney Hollywood Studios to kill a few hours until it was time to get on the bus.
I decided to walk, and Masayo took the boat. I arrived at the park long before Masayo. It was too late to get Toy Story Midway Mania fast passes by the time we arrived at the park, so I went to grab a fast pass for Tower of Terror. I called Masayo to see if she had arrived yet, but she was still on the boat. I told her to grab a Tower of Terror fast pass, and headed over to the single riders line at the Rock ‘N Roller Coaster. I lucked up and got to ride in the front row with a nice guy named Gary from DC.
I took this picture on my walk from the
Boardwalk to Disney Hollywood Studios.
By the time I got off the ride, Masayo was in the park, so I met her, and we headed over to take a ride on Star Tours. I really love the new version. This attraction (like many other attractions at the Studios) desperately needed an update, and they really did a great job on it. Now how about doing something about the Indiana Jones stunt show, Disney?
We then headed over to the Great Movie Ride. The line for the Great Movie Ride was a bit longer than we expected, so by the time we got off the ride, we had to chose between getting a snack to hold us over until we got to the ship or going on the Tower of Terror. We wound up opting for a snack, so we gave someone our Fast Passes.
We headed down to Rosie’s on Sunset to get our snack. I wound up getting a kids chicken nugget meal with fries, and Masayo got ribs. The chicken nuggets were OK--they weren’t the same kind of chicken nuggets that you get when you order an adult meal. But they were enough to get a little something in my stomach.
While we were eating, I couldn’t help but notice an adorable one-year-old girl who was all smiles as her grandfather gave her some water from a bottle. She just looked like a happy little girl, so I had to go say hello to her. Her name was Katie, and she really was adorable. She was also with her equally adorable brother Charlie, who was celebrating his birthday with a bag of Cheetos (and the orange fingers to prove it).
We then walked back to the Boardwalk to catch our bus. We were so excited for our cruise! When we boarded the bus at the Boardwalk convention center, our friends Mark and Janice were on the bus, which they had boarded at the Beach Club. We had met Janice and Mark at an All Ears meet last year, and realized that we would be on the same cruise. We had exchanged e-mail addresses and were e-mailing each other off and on all year.
We were soon on our way to the Disney Dream! It was nice to chat with Mark and Janice during the ride, and also watch the videos on the bus. It really made the bus ride fly by.
We arrived at port after 2:00. It was almost 2:30 by the time we checked in and got on the ship. I have to say that I didn’t like getting to the ship so late. It made the afternoon on the ship too rushed. Next time, I’ll either take a town car or stay at the airport the night before so I can get on an earlier bus.
Our first activity on the cruise was the DVC member celebration at Evolution. I was happy to see DVC cast member Michael at the check-in desk. I had met Michael at a DVC event in Boston a few years back, and have run into him in the parks several times since then. I was also happy to see my guide Amil on the ship. I met Amil on my first Disney Cruise in 2007, and again saw him at the event in Boston. I wound up asking him to be my guide a couple years back when I wasn’t happy with the guide assigned to me after my previous guide left.
The event was your typical DVC event--a sales pitched mixed into a game show with lots of prizes. I wound up winning a DVC travel blanket. They were serving some yummy mimosas, though they were very weak. I drank three of them.
After the DVC event, I ran up to my room for a bit to see if my luggage had arrived, which it had not. I spent some time to checking out my room. I was in room 8502, which was all the way forward on the starboard side of the ship. It had one large porthole overlooking the Vybe. The front wall of the room was slanted, which made the room seem more roomy than the other staterooms I’ve stayed in. The room was well designed with lots of closet space, which had some open shelving. My only complaint was that I wish that there was more drawer space in the room. There were only three small drawers in the vanity/desk area. It would have been nice if one of the three closet spaces was a chest of drawers instead of a closet.
The room featured a split bathroom, one with a toilet and sink, and the other with a tub and sink. While the tub is too short for an adult to bathe in, it was large enough to bathe a child. It was also very deep.
It was then time to head for the muster drill. I am glad that they don’t make you wear the life vests for muster anymore. It was always uncomfortable to stand there wearing them when you are crowded in with hundreds of other people who were in the same station as you.
After muster, I went up to deck 11 for the Sail Away Party. Disney really does a great job on the parties. They are so much fun. I usually walk from the deck above the party, but this time, I was on a main deck dancing and waving my streamers along with lots of other passengers.
After the sail away party, I headed back to my room to change for dinner. This was my first time doing early dinning on a cruise, and I found that I didn’t really like it. Since most families with young children try to get the early dining, the restaurants were more busy and louder. I found dining at late dining on my last two cruises to be a lot more relaxed and enjoyable.
We were starting our dining rotation at Animator’s Palate, the restaurant I was most excited about seeing. I hadn’t read much about Animator’s Palate on the Dream, but I knew it was different than Animator’s Palate on the one the Wonder and Magic. I was a bit disappointed by the theme at Animator’s Palate. It’s basically just Turtle Talk with Crush, which I have seen at both Disney World and Disneyland. It’s fun to see once or twice, and I’m sure folks who never saw it before were amazed, but when you’ve seen it several times at the theme parks, it just isn’t special.
I started off my meal with the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes, which were basically mushroom raviolis in a cheese and champagne sauce. The raviolis were very tasty--the cheese flavor definitely won out over the other flavors.
I then had the baked potato and cheddar soup with bacon bits and chives. The soup was good, but not what I expected. All of the ingredients had been pureed to a smooth liquid, and while the flavor was fine, it wasn’t the chunky potato soup I was expecting.
For my entrée, I ordered the Lemon-thyme marinated organic chicken breast with sour cream massed potatoes, roasted root vegetables, and grain mustard jus. While the chicken tasted fine, it was very dry. The mashed potatoes were smooth and tasty. The root vegetables were well-seasoned.
For dessert, I ordered the Pineapple Financier (almond cake served with whip cream), and the Cookies & Cream Sundae. The pineapple on top of the cake was very tasty, but the take itself was very dry--it had the consistency of a cookie more than a cake. The cookies and cream sundae was good, but the cookie chunks were very dry.
Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Animator’s Palate, but it didn’t knock my socks off.
After dinner, I went down to the atrium to watch the tree lighting ceremony to watch the tree lighting ceremony. Before the ceremony started, I saw a guy standing against the wall with his backside facing out as several people took pictures of him. I said, “Do you always have people take pictures of your backside?” He said, “It’s a long story.” One of his friends said, “He just loves pictures of his assets.”
A few minutes later, I walked by the family again and the guy was getting ready to take a picture of some of the members in her party. While he was getting them ready to pose, I snuck over and leaned against the same wall as he had with my backside facing outward in the same position he was standing. The whole family was in hysterics and the guy took a picture of my backside. So somewhere out there, there is a man with a picture of my assets on his camera.
I also ran into our cruise director Clayton. Clayton was the cruise director on my last cruise in December, 2008. I went over to him to say hello, and told him that I remembered the “I’m on vacation dance” and started to do it. He laughed and told me that they still did the dance on the cruise (and he did lead us in the dance later that night at the Golden Mickeys).
I then watched the tree lighting ceremony. The ceremony on the Dream was the same ceremony I saw three years ago. They pick a boy from the audience to be the king, and he joins Mickey and Minnie to light the tree with his scepter. It’s a cute little show.
I had a few minutes until I had to heat to the theatre to see the Golden Mickeys show, so I ran up to my room for a minute. I took my key to the world card out of my lanyard, and put it in the slot to turn on the lights. When I left the room, I left the key in the slot, locking myself out of my room. I didn’t have time to run down to guests services to get another key before the show, so I went directly to the theatre to see the Golden Mickeys.
The Golden Mickeys is a fantastic show. Enson Benson steps in give out the Golden Mickeys to some scenes from Disney classic movies. It featured performances of some of my favorite songs, including “Heigh Ho,” “Out There,” “I’ll Make A Man Out of You,” and “You’ve Got A Friend In Me.” It is so much fun watching some of my favorite songs and scenes from Disney musics performed live on stage.
After the show, I went to Guest Relations to pick up a key. I asked the cast member how many keys they have to reissue each cruise after someone leaves them in the light slot, and she told me that about 150 people do that each cruise.
I then went back to my stateroom to unpack. The ship was really rocking and rolling that night. I have a strong stomach, and usually don’t feel queasy from the movement of the ship, but this night, it was getting to me a bit. I didn’t feel that I was going to get sick, but I felt like I needed a snack before bed, so I went up to grab a late night snack. I grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza and a chicken finger. The pizza was kind of nasty, but the chicken finger was very good—it was piping hot and tasted good.
After my snack, I headed back to my room and was rocked to sleep on the ship.
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