Hindsight is 2020 - A VERY late trip report (NYE and Feb/March cruise) - Updated 8/27-Off the cruise and a VIP Tour!

[Lesley Wake]

These dancers were some of my favorites!

Jeweled dragon?

​

 

[Lesley Wake]

Fire & confetti!

I think the Jazz one was cool with the history around it.

King Croc

The parade was fun, and from what I understand, pretty authentic to New Orleans Mardi Gras. But I’ve never been, so don’t know for certain.

Coming up: Rides and Food! ​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Photopass in Epcot.

You look great! Love the dress!

Looks like Zach got Hama no Kani. Ponzu crab, toasted crab, heirloom tomato, watermelon radish tsukemono, leek gel, sesame pollen, plum wine. I think he really liked this too.

this looks yummy!

Temari Sushi. Chef-selected assortment of oceanic delicacies. The little sushi balls were pretty cute (though I requested no sea urchin and they had no problem adding an extra salmon instead).

I know in my head it's just sushi but putting it in ball size is so cute!

Around 4pm I headed out for my evening plans – heading to the dark side!

ha! The dark side....

 

[EvilVillainess]

What a great time...plus you get all the beads without the "work" you would do at the real Mardi Gras parades!!! We are thinking of doing an OI event in the future.

 

[Lesley Wake]

You look great! Love the dress!


this looks yummy!


I know in my head it's just sushi but putting it in ball size is so cute!


ha! The dark side....

Yeah, I liked that dress fabric. I have a Dooney purse with that design too!

The sushi balls were pretty cute! Though it did mean you don't have a lot of fish to go with the sushi, but I would definitely get it again!

What a great time...plus you get all the beads without the "work" you would do at the real Mardi Gras parades!!! We are thinking of doing an OI event in the future.

Yeah definitely the beads without the work in New Orleans! It would be fun to be a float person too (I think APs get to sign up on that day).

I highly recommend the OI events! I am doing the one in December and can't wait! Though lately they've been selling out super quickly!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Part 2 – Hitting up the rides with little to no wait!

After the parade I headed over to Islands of Adventure, as most of what I wanted to do was over here.

I though I’d wait until the day guests cleared off Hagrid’s, so rode Storm Force Accelatron for the first time. Like teacups on acid!

And another thing I hadn’t done before – Doctor Doom’s Fearfall. Definitely freaky, but it does have some great views of Orlando!

And walked onto The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man

Then, walked onto the Incredible Hulk Coaster. I rode this in 2017 and didn’t think I would ride it again as it was pretty rough for me. I gave it another shot, and… yeah it’s too rough for me! So, at least I confirmed I don’t need to ride again!

So, then I headed up to Hogsmeade

Where I hopped into the queue for Hagrid’s Magic Creatures Motorbike Adventure. It was quoted as a 60 minute wait, which wasn’t great, but honestly, as good as you can expect even at an after hours event since it is so new and exciting.

Very cool watching the bikes zip around the forest.

Something I didn’t realize at the time – they had us basically use the single rider entrance queue, rather than going through the main queue. Which meant we were a) bunched up together, and b) missed some cool effects. They did open up the full queue later, but I didn’t go for another try due to wait times.

As a Fire Engineer I had to admire the sprinkler head and smoke detector in the rock ceiling.

Inner queue areas. Probably so many details to pick out but only portions of the interior queue were open so I couldn’t spend lots of time examining.

This room was very cool with lots of creatures running overhead!

At the front I did think I had to ask for the bike spot and not the sidecar, but turns out they weren’t filling in everyone on the spots, so I had my choice of either!

The ride itself – OMG so awesome! So many things to see and look at and experience. And then other coaster effects that I think I read about when it first opened but completely forgot when I went to ride, so I was totally shocked when they happened. It really deserves all the praise it gets.

I would have liked to ride it again, but the wait time did end up being over 60 minutes so I didn’t want to spend the whole event doing the same coaster twice. Hopefully I can ride in December (I wanted to ride in May this year but the day I went was crazy crowded and Hagrids ended up breaking down for most of the day)​

 

[Lesley Wake]

Time for food – at the Three Broomsticks. They don’t have the full menus available, but do have a lot of options. I got the roast chicken and ribs plate, along with a frozen butterbeer and apple crumble. All yum!

Since I was there I went to ride Forbidden Journey. Walked through most of the queue before jumping onto the ride.

And then Flight of the Hippogriff, simply because I knew there was no wait.

I’m so happy I did ride it because the Hogwarts castle celebration happened while I was riding so it was like fireworks going off right next to me! Not a full Disney fireworks show, but still super fun!

Nothing more on my to-do list for Islands of Adventure, so I hopped onto the Hogwarts Express.

Ah, jolly old London!

And one of my favorite places in Universal – Diagon Alley! I just love this area!

​

 

[Lesley Wake]

No real wait for Gringotts, though it was slow since they were only loading half of the cars, which was annoying.

And despite it being pretty cold, I had to get some ice cream from Florean Fortescue.

Rather than the three cones I got the last Informer Meetup, I stuck to two servings this time – Butterbeer swirl in the cup and Strawberry and Cream in the cone! They are both so good.

I also was able to snag some hot butterbeer in the Leaky Cauldron. (They didn’t have actual plated food, instead it was more like a buffet, but it was nearing the end of food service so it didn’t look that fresh.) It was definitely needed as the night was getting chillier and chillier and I only had a light hoodie!

Some evening atmosphere photos

Back over to the Italian place (I don’t remember the name), where I got the Chicken alfredo.

And then rode Revenge of the Mummy.

But finally, time to leave! It was already 12:30am and I accomplished most of what I wanted to do. I would have liked to ride Hagrid’s a second time, but no time to do that (many of the rides close 1 hr before the event ends due to sound and maintenance issues; in order to meet that the line for Hagrid’s had closed 2 hrs before the event ended).

I ubered it back over to Kidani (though it was confusing figuring out where to meet the car in the new Uber pickup area at USO). I figured I would have received my cruise baggage tags in the evening and pick-up letter (I was taking DCL transport to the Port), but alas, neither was there! And it was almost 2am, ugh!

Thankfully I was able to post on our cruise facebook page and another cruiser staying at Kidani sent me a shot of their letter so I knew the pickup time. I figured I would need to set my alarm and wake up early to hopefully get this taken care of in the morning!

Coming up – Cruise time! ​

 

[missangelalexis]

I love the characters all playing with Baby Yoda at 1900 Park Fare!

Your old school jacket is so cool!

Sounds like a great time at AK and a really nice dinner at Epcot!

The Orlando Informer events always sound so fun! Glad you got to do some much and also ride Hagrid's!

 

[Lesley Wake]

I love the characters all playing with Baby Yoda at 1900 Park Fare!

Your old school jacket is so cool!

Sounds like a great time at AK and a really nice dinner at Epcot!

The Orlando Informer events always sound so fun! Glad you got to do some much and also ride Hagrid's!

It was very cute to see them! And I think the characters had fun too!

I loved that jacket the second I saw it - basically the 90s MMC which I grew up watching!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Day 7 – Saturday, February 29, 2020
Leaving on a cruise

So, first to finish up the DCL transport issue from the previous day. As I mentioned, I hadn’t received my transport info the evening before I left, while they normally show up in your WDW room.

My TA and I realized later that I had originally booked a roundtrip transfer. But due to reasons that will show themselves later, after the cruise I wanted to get off the ship and back to WDW ASAP, so I was going to do my own transport on that leg. When the return was cancelled, the other one was supposed to remain, but unfortunately got also cancelled and neither of us caught it.

Thankfully right when DCL opened in the morning I was able to call and get through. She added me to the bus transport and since my bags were totally packed and ready by the door, and other people’s bags in Kidani hadn’t been collected, she was able to call and get the baggage guy to also stop by my room and pick up my suitcases, phew! I didn’t really want to deal with getting them to the ship (and the bus pickup was at Jambo House, so I would have had to also get them over there). So, after getting all that sorted, I collapsed back to bed for about an hour!

Then, get up – finish up the packing into my Owners Locker and get that picked up by Bell Services. Clean up the room. Eat my leftover Naan bread for dessert. And say goodbye to my animal friends…

I want to do one of these tours where you actually go with the animals. (I think it’s the Sense of Africa, which is high on my Disney Bucket List).

These guys were fighting pretty hardcore, which was cool to see!

And finally I said goodbye to my lovely room and headed over to Jambo House. I am glad I didn’t have my suitcases, as I still had a roller carry-on, backpack, and then a plastic bag full of extra water bottles/soda, so it would have been super cumbersome to have 2 large heavy suitcases too!

But I did get this lovely sight – Oh I miss Jambo House sooo much

No issues at bus check-in; I had been added by hand at the bottom of the list. But we were off on the next stage of our adventure!

I think we just had 1 other pickup at the All Star hotels, and then off to Port Canaveral, where we were greeted with this sight!

A positive about DCL transport is by the time you arrive, most of the people have already boarded so you don’t have to wait forever! Of course if you want to meet characters in the terminal or get upgrades/change things around, you are out of luck.

There was a slight delay at check-in as they checked my passport and made a call. Due to covid they were not allowing any travelers from China, Japan, South Korea, and Italy go on cruises. And I had some stamps in my passport from China and Japan, so they just had to verify the dates were long enough ago (about 4 months…yeah that meets the quarantine period…) and then I got in no problem.

But I was on-board and ready for a solo cruise!

​

 

[Lesley Wake]

I didn’t pick any clever name for the ship intro (and also forgot to take video – it all happened so quickly)!

And phew – on the ship for a week of fun (and unfortunately some emotional breakdowns, but that was just me being me).

Still some time before rooms were ready, so I headed up to Cabanas and got some yummy lunch! Pretty difficult to find tables, but they had countertops available so I sat there.

Soon after it was time to check out my room. I had gone with a VGT (guaranteed verandah), which meant I paid less and would definitely have a Verandah, but no idea of what type or where. Since it was my first time with a Verandah, I wasn’t worried about location, so I took a gamble. Oh and it paid off! I got room 5162. This was right by the aft elevators (but it wasn’t noisy with people walking). It was also down the hall from the kids clubs, but most people wouldn’t get as far as my room, so I didn’t have a lot of foot traffic. But it was convenient to get to and from the atrium and other places around the ship.


Some room photos (I signed up for the Star Wars Celebration package and was happy I did, as it eventually sold out; I have continued to use that blanket and still have the decorations).

The package came with this picture frame. I also ordered a 6-pack of water; always good to have water bottles for things like excursions and just when you don't want to make your way to Deck 11.

But the highlight of this room – it was a Family Verandah. Normally family rooms mean bigger indoor spaces, with an extra murphy bed. But this one meant I had a HUGE verandah! With 4 chairs, including 2 loungers. Oh I loved this so much! I have been totally spoiled and when I booked a cruise for fall 2020 (obviously cancelled), I just paid extra to get another room like this for that verandah.

Current view in port.

I sort of went crazy on the door decorations… Lots of Star Wars magnets, a whiteboard with some SW daily trivia on it, and then my DVC magnet on the bottom.

A neighbor’s door…

​

 

[Lesley Wake]

I had time so I went to check out the kids clubs, which were just down the hall from my room.

I liked the statues in the animators studio.

And I think I played the steering game a bit, but I couldn’t quite figure it out.

Pass-through with a SEA reference.

Into the Oceaneer Club with so many cute spaces!

The tinkerbell space was adorable

​

 

[Lesley Wake]

I think they were doing a demonstration in the Dr Strange Sanctum and the man himself even showed up.

Kids space. Baby tried to let me leave him but I wouldn’t.

I even stopped into the it’s a small world nursery.

I think people were still boarding in the atrium

I signed up for the detective agency but never got around to playing it.

No photos for a couple hours, but I’m sure I got my room set up a bit more and then there was the safety drill. My previous cruise our station was in the theatre so it was nice that we could sit down, but this time it was just on the outside area of Deck 4, so a lot of standing waiting for people to show up.

I did get an alert my bag had been flagged so I went to check it out and I didn’t realize I had packed my scissors that are normally in my Owners Locker, so those were confiscated. I was supposed to get them on disembarkation day, but I didn’t end up having time (and it was only a cheap pair of scissors).​

 

[Lesley Wake]

Anyways, time for Sail Away party. I did stop on Deck 11, but it was pretty crowded, so I ended up going up to Deck 12 and watching from there. My mom did watch on the port cam, but she couldn’t identify me. (postscript - I need to go back into her computer because I actually just watched the video she took on her phone and I was in it!)

I had late dining and was hungry, so I stopped at Tow-Mater’s Grill for some chicken tenders, and my first ice cream, a vanilla/chocolate swirl.

After chilling for a bit, it was time for A Fantasy Come True. This show was…interesting. A bit too corny for me, but fun production value. I watched from up in the balcony.

Time for dinner, at Animator’s Palate. I was pretty excited to get to dinner and see who my tablemates were. I also got all dressed up (I didn’t end up taking a photo, but wore the same dress as when I went to Takumi Tei). And I show up in the restaurant and am escorted to Table 115… set for 1.

Ok, I’m not going to lie, I was crushed. I knew I was on a solo cruise, but I had hoped to have some company at dinner, and now it was looking like I was just going to be alone for 7-days straight. After a couple minutes it just hit me that I was truly alone on this ship. And with no internet, I also felt disconnected from the rest of the world. I am thankful that imessages work on the ship so I was able to complain/vent/cry to my friends and family. But anyways, back at dinner, I tried to hold it in, but I knew I was about to breakdown and so before I even ordered, I rushed back to my room to get upset.

It took me about 30 minutes (and sitting outside on my verandah in the night air) to finally center myself. And I knew I did want to experience Animator’s Palate, plus get dinner. So, I sucked it up, cleaned off the tears, and headed back to the restaurant. I did end up talking to my head server and tried to explain (without getting upset) that I didn’t want to eat alone. He was very understanding; while they couldn’t do anything that night since most people were already eating, they would move me to another table the next day.

So, anyways, I went ahead and sat down. I felt bad because I couldn’t hide being upset, so my servers were worried. But I tried to just eat, and keep to myself…

Everything I ate was very good. Garlic and Herb Foccacia as the bread service. Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes (pasta purses filled with truffle-scented cheese and coated with a delicate champagne sauce). Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin (served on wasabi mashed potatoes (I substituted regular mashed potatoes) with bok choy and a tamarind bbq reduction).

I did also like the screens and atmosphere. Crush came into my area but didn’t talk to me.

For dessert, rather than go with one of the AP options I requested a Gran Marnier Souffle from Royal Court (on the Fantasy the two share a kitchen), which was happily granted and very delicious!

So, obviously dinner was a wash. Food was great and servers were attentive (though I barely remember what they looked like, let alone their names). But I just wasn’t feeling it and worried cruising solo was a big mistake.

Another miscellaneous ship photo – I did love the stair artwork

First towel/blanket animal.

And to bed.. in that paradise that is the DCL beds (those are like big fluffy pillows).

Coming up – A chill day at sea​

 

[Suejacken]

Anyways, time for Sail Away party. I did stop on Deck 11, but it was pretty crowded, so I ended up going up to Deck 12 and watching from there. My mom did watch on the port cam, but she couldn’t identify me. (postscript - I need to go back into her computer because I actually just watched the video she took on her phone and I was in it!)

I had late dining and was hungry, so I stopped at Tow-Mater’s Grill for some chicken tenders, and my first ice cream, a vanilla/chocolate swirl.

After chilling for a bit, it was time for A Fantasy Come True. This show was…interesting. A bit too corny for me, but fun production value. I watched from up in the balcony.

Time for dinner, at Animator’s Palate. I was pretty excited to get to dinner and see who my tablemates were. I also got all dressed up (I didn’t end up taking a photo, but wore the same dress as when I went to Takumi Tei). And I show up in the restaurant and am escorted to Table 115… set for 1.

Ok, I’m not going to lie, I was crushed. I knew I was on a solo cruise, but I had hoped to have some company at dinner, and now it was looking like I was just going to be alone for 7-days straight. After a couple minutes it just hit me that I was truly alone on this ship. And with no internet, I also felt disconnected from the rest of the world. I am thankful that imessages work on the ship so I was able to complain/vent/cry to my friends and family. But anyways, back at dinner, I tried to hold it in, but I knew I was about to breakdown and so before I even ordered, I rushed back to my room to get upset.

It took me about 30 minutes (and sitting outside on my verandah in the night air) to finally center myself. And I knew I did want to experience Animator’s Palate, plus get dinner. So, I sucked it up, cleaned off the tears, and headed back to the restaurant. I did end up talking to my head server and tried to explain (without getting upset) that I didn’t want to eat alone. He was very understanding; while they couldn’t do anything that night since most people were already eating, they would move me to another table the next day.

So, anyways, I went ahead and sat down. I felt bad because I couldn’t hide being upset, so my servers were worried. But I tried to just eat, and keep to myself…

Everything I ate was very good. Garlic and Herb Foccacia as the bread service. Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes (pasta purses filled with truffle-scented cheese and coated with a delicate champagne sauce). Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin (served on wasabi mashed potatoes (I substituted regular mashed potatoes) with bok choy and a tamarind bbq reduction).

I did also like the screens and atmosphere. Crush came into my area but didn’t talk to me.

For dessert, rather than go with one of the AP options I requested a Gran Marnier Souffle from Royal Court (on the Fantasy the two share a kitchen), which was happily granted and very delicious!

So, obviously dinner was a wash. Food was great and servers were attentive (though I barely remember what they looked like, let alone their names). But I just wasn’t feeling it and worried cruising solo was a big mistake.

Another miscellaneous ship photo – I did love the stair artwork

First towel/blanket animal.

And to bed.. in that paradise that is the DCL beds (those are like big fluffy pillows).

Coming up – A chill day at sea​

I just read the entire report and loved it. I am so sorry you felt so alone on the cruise. I wish I had your courage to travel alone. I hope things got better quickly for you

 

[EvilVillainess]

I am so sorry about dinner. I totally would have gone with you. I think you are very brave and wonderful!!!

 

[Hubie]

I fully understand your feelings having to eat alone your first evening. When DW and I are on a DCL cruise without family, we always choose to have tablemates. We not only have enjoyed meeting all of them, but we have always had interesting and fun conversations with them.

 

[disneyAndi14]

I know how much you like to visit and strike up conversations with people at the parks so I’m sure you were looking forward to meeting new people at dinner!
I love your veranda wow how lucky
I hope it gets better being solo on the high seas!!
It is so fun reading about a cruise since there haven’t been any in so long!

 

[Woth2982]

I am glad you were able to sort of the bus situation! That has to be stressful at the last minute!

Love your balcony room! I am on the Dream come May, and I just got a regular balcony, but I truly cannot wait to be sitting on it! I am sorry you had a little breakdown at dinner. I can understand how you felt. It is nice to be alone, but alone alone is not fun all the time. Especially on vacation. Dinner looks amazing though! I can almost taste the pasta! I hope you were able to get moved to another table for the remainder of the trip and things got a little better.