November 10, 2018 - Disney Fantasy 7-Night Very MerryTime Western Caribbean

[LCoulter]

Just got back a few days ago from doing the dis 20th anniversary party,, it was great! Weather was very hot and we had some rain just about every day but it didnt last to long. Stayed at por for the 1st time and I cant really say I was all that impressed it was nice but not one of my favorites,,, much prefer Caribbean beach as far as moderates are concerned. Next trip planned is for October but staying off property with my daughter and her family 1st time staying off property,,, doing Universal, have only done 1 park at Universal before,, and also planning on a day at the space center in Port Canaveral which will be a 1st too! Was able to get a fast pass for Navi river ride and loved it last week , and will try the other in October hopefully.We didnt do the dining plan this trip and only did 2 table service chef Mickeys for dinner and the Liberty tree for dinner to,,,, Chef Mickeys was ok pricey though 67 each with tip and all not as good as last time I ate there. Liberty tree was really good and only 47 each with tip and all,, with the canadian exchange it even makes it more for us. The food court at por I found to be very limited and it was very busy most of the times we went.I did make my mind up while there for where to stay pre cruise so have picked a return visit at the Poly,, havent been there since 2012 I believe,, looking forward to staying there again especially since its been redone . Michelle its great that you have volunteered to look after the fe exchange we will be joining once you get it up and running! Cruise is a long way off yet but gives all the more time to plan,, 3 nights pre cruise at the poly is a start for me! wooohooo cant wait!

I assume you did the private party at Epcot? That sounds like a blast! Do you know how many people they ended up limiting it to? Was it a great time? Did you meet any of the podcast team?

I can't wait to see Pandora in October!

Can you report back on the Space Center? We are planning that pre-cruise but have never been.

 

[boundfordisney]

I assume you did the private party at Epcot? That sounds like a blast! Do you know how many people they ended up limiting it to? Was it a great time? Did you meet any of the podcast team?

I can't wait to see Pandora in October!

Can you report back on the Space Center? We are planning that pre-cruise but have never been.

Hi Laura yes will post all the info I can when we go to the space center,,, and yes we did the party at epcot it was amazing,,,, we were the only 2 people on some of the rides I think there was a limit to 1 thousand but it didnt seem that there were that many.I wondered what the final actual count for the party was? I think maybe around 7 to 8 hundred hard to tell with epcot being so large it seemed like no one was there lol!Sure was a great way to spend time there! The concert with Jody Benson was fantastic she is such a great singer and very engaging with the crowd .Watching Illuminations was really top notch lots of good spots with it being such a smaller crowd then the usual.Will try and plan to do other dis events in the future hopefully. I really would love to do a dis cruise so whenever they plan another Im sure going to try and go along,,,, the team sure are alot of fun and very freindly,, didnt get to meet them all but maybe in the future! Met Kevin and he is just awesome so funny wish I could have spent more time chatting with him! Pandora is really worth seeing Im sure you will love it!

 

[LCoulter]

Hi Laura yes will post all the info I can when we go to the space center,,, and yes we did the party at epcot it was amazing,,,, we were the only 2 people on some of the rides I think there was a limit to 1 thousand but it didnt seem that there were that many.I wondered what the final actual count for the party was? I think maybe around 7 to 8 hundred hard to tell with epcot being so large it seemed like no one was there lol!Sure was a great way to spend time there! The concert with Jody Benson was fantastic she is such a great singer and very engaging with the crowd .Watching Illuminations was really top notch lots of good spots with it being such a smaller crowd then the usual.Will try and plan to do other dis events in the future hopefully. I really would love to do a dis cruise so whenever they plan another Im sure going to try and go along,,,, the team sure are alot of fun and very freindly,, didnt get to meet them all but maybe in the future! Met Kevin and he is just awesome so funny wish I could have spent more time chatting with him! Pandora is really worth seeing Im sure you will love it!

Thanks for the reply

I would love to do a dismeet..maybe someday.

 

[boundfordisney]

So was just wondering where everyone is travelling from when we cruise? Will start off with some of my info and hope others will follow along. We are from Hamilton Ontario Canada its in between Toronto and Niagra Falls ,,, Buffalo is only about 70 mins away so most of the time we fly from there,,, so much cheaper then Toronto even with the exchange rate, We have an airport in Hamilton and West jet flies to Orlando but only limited days and times so it doesnt always work for us to go from there,,,, they are staring to have more flights so will keep a watch because its only a 15 min drive for us to get there ,for now Buffalo is the choice! Counting down the days to the trip in October !

 

[LCoulter]

So was just wondering where everyone is travelling from when we cruise? Will start off with some of my info and hope others will follow along. We are from Hamilton Ontario Canada its in between Toronto and Niagra Falls ,,, Buffalo is only about 70 mins away so most of the time we fly from there,,, so much cheaper then Toronto even with the exchange rate, We have an airport in Hamilton and West jet flies to Orlando but only limited days and times so it doesnt always work for us to go from there,,,, they are staring to have more flights so will keep a watch because its only a 15 min drive for us to get there ,for now Buffalo is the choice! Counting down the days to the trip in October !

We live near Syracuse NY and the Syracuse airport is 10 minutes down the road from us. Sometimes we drive though which is about 22 hours.
I'm hoping we are able to fly but it will depend on pricing. I'm counting down the days too!

 

[MSPeeler]

I'm alive!! Sorry, I've been MIA. I'm doing Vacation Bible School back to back last week and this week so it's a bit hectic around here right now. Last week I was a Director in a 1st grade room in charge of 43 kids with 2 helpers
This week, I'm a craft team leader with two 3rd grade classes and six 4th grade classes between 10:05am- 11:50am. It's a wild ride, but I love it! LOL

So was just wondering where everyone is travelling from when we cruise? Will start off with some of my info and hope others will follow along. We are from Hamilton Ontario Canada its in between Toronto and Niagra Falls ,,, Buffalo is only about 70 mins away so most of the time we fly from there,,, so much cheaper then Toronto even with the exchange rate, We have an airport in Hamilton and West jet flies to Orlando but only limited days and times so it doesnt always work for us to go from there,,,, they are staring to have more flights so will keep a watch because its only a 15 min drive for us to get there ,for now Buffalo is the choice! Counting down the days to the trip in October !

We are from Tennessee and always drive down, but stop mid-way overnight usually around Valdosta, GA. It's about a 13 hr drive with no stops. Throw 3 kids in there and it's easily 15-16 hours total just driving. So from Valdosta, it's around a 4 hours drive. If we check-out there at 7am, we should be at Port Canaveral by 11ish if I can get an early port arrival time. I'd love to fly, but tickets for 7 people just don't fit in my budget!

 

[JessLFam]

Hi all, I'm Jessica. This will be my family's first Disney cruise. I'll be traveling with my husband and two sons (5 and 3.5 at the time of sailing). We will also be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary on 11/11 We can't wait!!

 

[MSPeeler]

Hi all, I'm Jessica. This will be my family's first Disney cruise. I'll be traveling with my husband and two sons (5 and 3.5 at the time of sailing). We will also be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary on 11/11 We can't wait!!

Hi Jessica! Welcome to the group How exciting for your first cruise and anniversary celebration!




Will any of you be staying before or after in WDW area as well? We are contemplating a couple days in Orlando after but not on-site. We are undecided.

 

[JessLFam]

Hi Jessica! Welcome to the group How exciting for your first cruise and anniversary celebration!




Will any of you be staying before or after in WDW area as well? We are contemplating a couple days in Orlando after but not on-site. We are undecided.

Thank you @MSPeeler! I have no idea what our pre/post-cruise plans are at this point, we will be coming from the DC area and are planning to fly into MCO. The rest is still up in the air, which is one of the many reasons I joined this board so that I can get input and advice from some veterans

 

[bcwife76]

So was just wondering where everyone is travelling from when we cruise? Will start off with some of my info and hope others will follow along. We are from Hamilton Ontario Canada its in between Toronto and Niagra Falls ,,, Buffalo is only about 70 mins away so most of the time we fly from there,,, so much cheaper then Toronto even with the exchange rate, We have an airport in Hamilton and West jet flies to Orlando but only limited days and times so it doesnt always work for us to go from there,,,, they are staring to have more flights so will keep a watch because its only a 15 min drive for us to get there ,for now Buffalo is the choice! Counting down the days to the trip in October !

We are in Vancouver BC *waves hi from the west coast*

This past January we flew from Vancouver to Orlando and got some great flight prices. Based on the flight prices for November of this year, I'm not encouraged however that we will get such a deal. So for November 2018 we might end up driving down to Seattle WA (3 hours south of us) and flying from there. Am also hoping our Canadian $ goes UP. Right now it's......gross lol

 

[MSPeeler]

So, I started a thread about the Dolphin excursions, I'm really torn on which port to schedule one in. I definitely want to do one, but with the different times and excursion choices (some are duel excursions, others stand alone), I guess I will have to list pros and cons of each.

Are any of you thinking about doing a Dolphin Encounter??

 

[bcwife76]

So, I started a thread about the Dolphin excursions, I'm really torn on which port to schedule one in. I definitely want to do one, but with the different times and excursion choices (some are duel excursions, others stand alone), I guess I will have to list pros and cons of each.

Are any of you thinking about doing a Dolphin Encounter??

We did a dolphin encounter in Puerto Vallarta in 2014 so this is probably not something we are going to look into for this cruise (never say never I guess though!) I did look at all the ones offered and there are several in Falmouth and Grand Cayman so I can see why you are having trouble narrowing it down! My husband loves to snorkel and the girls and I are big beach lovers so we'll probably be concentrating on finding beach excursions where swimming, snorkeling and sunbathing are on the agenda ;-)

 

[boundfordisney]

We are in Vancouver BC *waves hi from the west coast*

This past January we flew from Vancouver to Orlando and got some great flight prices. Based on the flight prices for November of this year, I'm not encouraged however that we will get such a deal. So for November 2018 we might end up driving down to Seattle WA (3 hours south of us) and flying from there. Am also hoping our Canadian $ goes UP. Right now it's......gross lol

well hello from a fellow canadian!

 

[boundfordisney]

We did a dolphin encounter in Puerto Vallarta in 2014 so this is probably not something we are going to look into for this cruise (never say never I guess though!) I did look at all the ones offered and there are several in Falmouth and Grand Cayman so I can see why you are having trouble narrowing it down! My husband loves to snorkel and the girls and I are big beach lovers so we'll probably be concentrating on finding beach excursions where swimming, snorkeling and sunbathing are on the agenda ;-)

we did one in Cozumel dolphinaris I think it was called chose that one because water was more calm there as its kinda enclosed so to speak,, it was really worth the cost

 

[boundfordisney]

we will be staying onsite before cruise not sure for how many days but will stay at the Poly. have stayed there pre cruise back in 2011

 

[boundfordisney]

great way to celebrate you picked the perfect ship!

Hi all, I'm Jessica. This will be my family's first Disney cruise. I'll be traveling with my husband and two sons (5 and 3.5 at the time of sailing). We will also be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary on 11/11 We can't wait!!

 

[bcwife76]

we will be staying onsite before cruise not sure for how many days but will stay at the Poly. have stayed there pre cruise back in 2011

I would love to stay at the Poly before this cruise! Before our cruise this past January we stayed at POR and really liked it. Are you DVC members or do you rent points?

 

[MSPeeler]

How does renting points work? We are not DVC members and have never stayed on site. I'm interested in that, but I just don't know that it would be worth it for us.

 

[tltay2005]

Hi all. This trip will be just my DH and myself. Will be celebrating me turning the big "50" on the ship. This will be our fourth Disney cruise, first on the Fantasy. Looking forward to being on a different ship and new ports. As much as I loved the Dream it's time for something new (one only can go to Nassau so many times, lol). Also will be our first Merry Time cruise. We have been WDW annual pass holders for over 28 years and live in Winter Haven Fl (home to Legoland, in fact it's my next door neighbor) which is about 35 minutes south of WDW and about an hour and half from Port Canaveral. This is the furthest out I have ever booked and it's going to seem like forever before it gets here. Also the first time we have sailed in the fall, we have sailed in April, May and June. April was too cool for this Florida girl and I really missed swimming at CC. Hoping we have a mild fall down this way so the water stays warm through November.

 

[MSPeeler]

Hi all. This trip will be just my DH and myself. Will be celebrating me turning the big "50" on the ship. This will be our fourth Disney cruise, first on the Fantasy. Looking forward to being on a different ship and new ports. As much as I loved the Dream it's time for something new (one only can go to Nassau so many times, lol). Also will be our first Merry Time cruise. We have been WDW annual pass holders for over 28 years and live in Winter Haven Fl (home to Legoland, in fact it's my next door neighbor) which is about 35 minutes south of WDW and about an hour and half from Port Canaveral. This is the furthest out I have ever booked and it's going to seem like forever before it gets here. Also the first time we have sailed in the fall, we have sailed in April, May and June. April was too cool for this Florida girl and I really missed swimming at CC. Hoping we have a mild fall down this way so the water stays warm through November.

Welcome Terri! We cruised the Dream back in May of last year and that was enough of Nassau for us... HAHA! We are really excited for a Christmas cruise also. How neat that you live so close to Disney and Legoland. We are thinking after the cruise we will goto Legoland (one of our favorite parks!) It's SO laid back and not all hustle and bustle like Disney. You can go on a whim with no plan at all and have a wonderful time... it reminds me of going to Six Flags growing up. No plans, just GO and have great fun

I'm hoping for nice CC weather too, it was PERFECT in May, so I can't really imagine it being nice in November, but who knows! HAHA! We will be celebrating my birthday as well, but a bit early (mine is on 11/21) and my FIL's is the 29th.