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The Year In Review: DIT Takes Disney Love To A New Level In 2017


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5 hours ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

The best thing about 1968 was my birth. LOL

YOUR birth??  LOL.  

5 hours ago, keith_h said:

Now it can truly be called a DIT thread.

Yes, but I'm hungry now.  

5 hours ago, Okieatheart said:

I'm enjoying this TR!  However, I could have done without that cinnamon roll picture.  Started my diet today.  Oh, well, I'll start it after my run to the donut shop!  Looking forward to your adventures!

Sorry!  how about one of those delicious gluten free, sugar free, fat free cinnamon rolls?  

What do you mean, they don't exist?  They exist in my dreams!  :D

4 hours ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

The picture of the tracks (on the walk)...super cute.  Hadn't noticed those, when we visited in November.  We too spent some time at Geyser Point (Tom wants to make a point, of watching a game over there ;)); we like it.  It has a nice feel to it.  I will say, that I noticed that the cushions were not handling the traffic/weather that well so... my guess is, they'll need to swap those out (at least) once a year.  It's a nice place though.

That cheese/pretzel thing looks crazy good, as do those donuts!

It's worth a few minutes to check out the theming in the area behind Geyser Point.  Very nicely done.  

4 hours ago, Mrs.TN22 said:

yay a trip report from DIT!  Here a late but enjoying it and looking forward to more!!!

Thanks for joining in!

4 hours ago, wendinator said:

I'm sure it was a Fiend who tipped me off to the Territory Lounge. I like that place a lot too. In fact my Mom and I have been known to go there twice in the same trip. Quiet, cozy, no ADR required, good food. Can't go wrong, really!

I agree!  In fact, we almost made it back there later in the year, but it just didn't work out.  Next time!  

4 hours ago, keith_h said:

 

Rene and I always make a stop by the Territory Lounge. It is one our favorite places to relax with a drink and a midevening meal of appetizers. 

You can't beat a meal of appetizers.  

3 hours ago, Duane said:

An here I thought you were locked up all this time in that backstage room of Pioneer Hall with Melvin the Moose!

Oh, by the way... I am in as well!

The last I heard, poor Melvin was still stuck above the mantle at a former bus driver's house.  

2 hours ago, Beckers said:

I’m in.

 

my parents are heading down in Feb and I’m going to highly suggest they go to the territory lounge, I think they’d enjoy it. 

Hey Beckers!  Thanks for reading!

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Happy New Year!! It's hard to believe 2017 is over, and 2018 is here.  For a variety of reasons, 2017 was a bit of a tough year around the DIT ranch.  I got off-line to focus on more important th

Yes, I'm still alive. A little bird told me that Dave was embarrassing himself by doing a TR, so I needed to read how he crashed and burned..........this time. I sure hope he didn't run into Melvin th

Trip #5 - Fall Break at Dollywood Our kids typically get 3 days off in October for fall break, which makes for a 5 day weekend.  Not long enough to head to the Fort unless we pulled them out of s

There is just too much to comment on.......

I like that you share a birth year with a great restaurant. I take great pride being born the same year as my favorite st. Louis blues.

SW honey roasted peanuts AND complimentary Disney construction pins.  Dude, hope you bought a Powerball ticket, because that's jackpot kind of stuff.

Like, several have already posted, I've never experienced MDE, but that seems as close to stress free as you can get

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16 hours ago, alexwyattmommy said:

Sorry boys, but the best thing about 1968 was MY birth.

 

Glad to see you doing a TR Dave.

Can't argue with that.  

14 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

Sounds like a nice night.

It was...but the best is yet to come.  

13 hours ago, caveat lector said:

There is just too much to comment on.......

I like that you share a birth year with a great restaurant. I take great pride being born the same year as my favorite st. Louis blues.

SW honey roasted peanuts AND complimentary Disney construction pins.  Dude, hope you bought a Powerball ticket, because that's jackpot kind of stuff.

Like, several have already posted, I've never experienced MDE, but that seems as close to stress free as you can get

Stress free yes.  Fast no.  But on vacation, I can deal with slow and stress free.  

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Ok, we have now arrived at Thursday....day 2 of our Birthday cruise trip.  

We awoke at the Wilderness Lodge at our usual "somewhat early" time.  I don't recall exactly, but I never sleep until 7 so it was probably in the 6:30 range or so.  I'm always up first, so I made some hotel room coffee and drank it while waiting for INC to wake up.  By this point, it may have been 7:30 or so, so we had some time to kill.  Our meeting time for the DCL bus wasn't until 11:30, per this letter that was left in our room the evening before.  If anyone was ever curious about the procedure for taking the DCL bus from a Disney resort, including how the luggage is handled, here are your answers.

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The first thing that jumps out at you is the 11:30 departure time.  On our previous cruises, we like being at the ship terminal by that time.  So we knew that we would not be boarding early.  That stressed me out just a bit, but it shouldn't have.  It all worked out perfectly fine.  But mainly because the Wonder doesn't have an Aqua Duck, so I wasn't missing out on any early rides.  ;) 

Anyways, we packed up and, per the above letter, tagged our bags and left them by the room door.  We then headed out to get some breakfast.  Since Roaring Fork was closed for refurb, we wandered back down to Geyser Point to check out their breakfast offerings.  We both got our usual oatmeal, which was actually very nice and served in a real bowl with real toppings.  I don't know if this is still the case now that RF is back open, but it was nice eating by the lake.  

We still had quite a bit of time to kill, so here was where my ulterior motive for choosing the Lodge came into play.  

We hopped a boat to the Fort!!

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I got us some coffee from Trails End, and we assumed the position.

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Isn't that great??

It's good enough to be able to get away for a few days on a Disney Cruise, and to get to spend the night before the cruise at the Wilderness Lodge....but throw some FPT on top of it?  (That's Fort Porch Time for you newbies).  Priceless!

We relaxed for a while, soaking up what was a gorgeous central FL February morning.  The Fort was incredibly peaceful on this Thursday morning.  Of course, the Wild Womenz were scheduled to descend upon the place that weekend, so there was already an impressive array of law enforcement on standby in preparation for the mayhem.  We were fortunate that we missed that mess.  (ok, in reality I had hoped to see some of the womenz, but that didn't work out).  

We headed back to the Lodge to gather our personal items from the room and check out, then went to our meeting spot in the lobby for the DCL bus.  A DCL represenative met us there with her clipboard and her Julie the Cruise Director attire, and said that we would be delayed because of an "incident".  I asked if everything was ok, and she said that our bus was coming from the Poly, but it was held up due to emergency vehicles that responded to a personal injury situation.  It turned out that a woman tripped over a potted plant and fell down.  I could only guess that this had something to do with the Womenz, but regardless we were told she was ok and after about a 30 minute delay we were boarding our 2nd DEEE-LUXE motorcoach of the trip for our ride to the port.  

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it wasn't too long and this came into view.

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That sight never gets old.  

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It sure is a pretty ship, isn't it??

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On our first DCL cruise, we arrived by car and, after checking in, had some time to kill in the terminal before our boarding group was called.  This time, possibly since we were running late from the Womenz Incident, we walked off the bus, through security, checked in and immediately were directed to board.  So...no terminal pics.  Which is fine.  How many pictures of people posing in front of the giant Mickey ears do you need to see?

In just a few moments, were up on deck enjoying a beverage.  

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Notice that snazzy lanyard around my neck?  Since this was our 2nd Disney Cruise, we received those Castaway Club lanyards.  I felt so superior to all the 1st timer schmucks walking around lanyard-free.  Losers.  

Then I realized all the Gold and Platinum lanyard people were looking down on me for only being Silver.  That damn Mouse and his unfair class systems.  Always making you want to spend more to keep up with the Jones'.  

Anyways, drink #2 of the cruise was soon in our hands.  

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If I remember right, our first night dinner was at Animator's Palate.  I don't believe I have any pictures of that, but I do know what we did before dinner.    

Since we had the late dinner seating, we had some time in the early evening to have some drinks and see the show.  Our first stop was the the new English pub onboard.

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Now, I have to tell you, this new pub ROCKS!  Yes, it's a very nice pub.  Yes, it has a good beer selection.  Yes, it has comfy seats, and the usual cruise ship trivia contests and activities.  But none of those reasons are why this place rocks.  

Would you like to know why it rocks??

It's because, every night of our cruise, they served ALL YOU CAN EAT WINGS!!!  

Now, keep in mind, I'm a Buffalo guy.  Born and raised...spent my first 35 years there.  So I know a thing or two about wings.  And having lived away from Buffalo for the last 15 years, I've seen my share of sub-par wings.  And even worse, wings served with ranch dressing of all things.  I've seen baked wings, soggy wings, undercooked wings, etc.  And let me tell you, these wings were top notch!  And unlimited!  And beyond that, they were served with real Bleu Cheese Dressing!!  And the bleu cheese wasn't served in little cups.  It was served in a giant vat....again, ALL YOU CAN EAT!  A GIANT VAT, I tell ya!

Let's just say we nearly ruined our dinner.  Only we didn't.  I did what any man does when faced with a situation like this.  I loosened my belt and sucked it up.  

No, really.  I got a straw and sucked up the last of my blue cheese.  

Anyways, as I said, we had the late dinner seating on this cruise, so we actually had some time to digest our wings while watching the Golden Mickey's.  And then we headed to AP for dinner.  This was our first time ever having table companions other than family on a cruise.  I have to tell you, it was weird.  I'm a fairly sociable guy I think, but dining with strangers put a little bit of a lid on my exuberance, so to speak.  I didn't take pictures that first night.  The 3rd couple was doing Palo that night, so it was just us and another couple that wore coordinating clothing....really, his polo shirt was the exact same color as her dress.  Every night.  But that's none of my business.  

Anyways, I think the food was pretty decent but honestly, nothing else on that ship could compare to those wings.  

I'll leave it at that.  The next day was my birthday, and it happened to be an at sea day, and more importantly, we were scheduled to dine at Tiana's Place, and it was also Pirate Night!  

Coming up.....

 

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AYCE wings?  Nice. Did you try any room service wings?  I always get those on DCL,and I like them fine. But I'm no wing expert. I'll use ranch when blue cheese isn't available.  The first time I ever ate wings was when this little wing place opened in Clearwater back in the early 80's  It was called Hooters- ever hear of it?

TCD

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1 hour ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

We love both Territory Lounge and Geyser Point. Last time we were at Geyser Point, they had a hostess seating people. I think it will turn into a full table service restaurant.


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Really?  I like the casual nature of it....but I can imagine it's nearly impossible during busier times to get a table.  

1 hour ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

Depends on when you get to the airport check-in. We've been the first stop on two occasions and the last on two occasions.  ????

Luck of the draw.

1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Good job getting a Moscow Mule and the fondue at Territory Lounge. That's exactly what I always order. 

TCD

Delicious.

12 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

AYCE wings?  Nice. Did you try any room service wings?  I always get those on DCL,and I like them fine. But I'm no wing expert. I'll use ranch when blue cheese isn't available.  The first time I ever ate wings was when this little wing place opened in Clearwater back in the early 80's  It was called Hooters- ever hear of it?

TCD

Yes, I tried the room service wings....they were ok but being under that lid seemed to steam them a bit, rendering them a little rubbery.  

No, I've never heard of Hooters.  What are they known for?  

2 minutes ago, momof3kids-Yvonne said:

Oh yes, you were trying to get out of there as quickly as possible so the WW would not influence INC. It was either that or you were afraid she would voluntarily stay behind to join in on the shenanigans. I can't remember.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 

I've learned to fear the Womenz.  That's for sure.  

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I'm late but all caught up!  Great report but you're making me miss the Wonder!  We just got off a couple weeks ago.

I also found those wings and ate them a lot, sometimes multiple times a night.  They were part of the reason I gained over 10 pounds on this cruise!

Looking forward to more.

WBI

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4 minutes ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

All you can eat wings?  Z better not EVER find out they let people have those in the adult section. He would not be happy. 

You can bring your kids with you into the pub during certain hours.  W actually took a nap on a couch during our pre-dinner drinks one night.

Also I may have brought W with me while I filled up a plate a couple times, he stood at the door flirting with a castmember while I got our snacks, lol

WBI

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2 hours ago, twiceblessed....nacole said:

I have a huge fear of ships.  Irrational... I know, but still, it's a fear.  So, I think the chance of us getting on a cruise ship is pretty slim, but the big vat of real blue cheese?  Well, that might just do it  ;)

How long was the bus ride?

I hate boats, and always avoided cruises because I thought I'd be fearful being onboard one.  But I have no issues on a big ship, it turns out.  

The bus ride is about an hour, IIRC.

1 hour ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Gastroenteritis?

 

TCD

:ROFLMAO-1:

1 hour ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

All you can eat wings?  Z better not EVER find out they let people have those in the adult section. He would not be happy. 

Take Z to the pub and let the boy fill up.  

1 hour ago, WannaBeImagineer said:

I'm late but all caught up!  Great report but you're making me miss the Wonder!  We just got off a couple weeks ago.

I also found those wings and ate them a lot, sometimes multiple times a night.  They were part of the reason I gained over 10 pounds on this cruise!

Looking forward to more.

WBI

I REALLY broke my diet on this cruise.  I never eat wings at home, but I did on the Wonder.  Which lead to eating further things I never eat at home.  Which lead to weight gain.  LOL.  

1 hour ago, WannaBeImagineer said:

You can bring your kids with you into the pub during certain hours.  W actually took a nap on a couch during our pre-dinner drinks one night.

Also I may have brought W with me while I filled up a plate a couple times, he stood at the door flirting with a castmember while I got our snacks, lol

WBI

There you go, Kelly.  Take Z for some wings.  

And Nick, I like your style....using the boy to distract the female CM's while you scarf down some wings.  :bell_winner-bf:

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What a treat, I haven't been on FF in ages but logged on tonight and found your thread. 

Excellent start at WL. We head to WDW a week from today and we're spending a couple of nights in one of the cabins. After reading about your visit Geyser Point and the Territory Lounge are two must-do's (as if they wouldn't be anyway...those drinks looked delicious).

 

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Onward to our At-Sea Day...

One thing I forgot to mention, is that we were able to book a Verandah cabin on this cruise.  Being our first cruise without kids, and more specifically our first cruise without Anna, this was a big deal for us.  I've never felt comfortable booking a verandah cabin with Anna....she's a bit too unpredictable.  But we had one this time.  And we really enjoyed it!  I loved getting up early and having coffee out there.  And as I usually do when cruising, I ordered coffee from room service every night before going to bed (quite possibly with cookies and Mickey bars too....but let's keep that quiet), and it stayed warm in the carafe all night.  No waiting for my first cup in the morning!  

After coffee, we hit Cabanas for breakfast, then began our day of leisure.  

We spent quite a bit of time on the adult deck.

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Sorry for this one.  Oh, and those are BUBBLES on my nose!

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That last pic may have come after a couple of beers.  Just maybe.  

Artistic shot while relaxing in lounge chair.

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Ok, artistic may be a stretch.

We relaxed all day on the deck, and in the pool.  When we were thirsty we got some drinks.  Don't worry, some of them were non-alcoholic.  Have to stay hydrated, you know.  When we got hungry we grabbed food.  We found one counter that had tons of fresh sandwiches, fruit, salads, etc.  It was pretty decent.  Of course, I also had to try the pizza.  And fries.  And some ice cream.  LOL.  

By late afternoon, we headed back to the cabin to clean up.  I called room service and ordered a cheese plate, which we enjoyed on the verandah with some wine that we had brought onboard.  After getting ready for the evening, we headed back to the pub.  We may or may not have had some wings.  

And beer.

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We went to that evening's show, which was Disney Dreams.  Like all the entertainment on DCL ships, this is a good show.  Disney sure is good at getting your emotions fired up.  

After the show, it was off to Tiana's Place!  

I was really looking forward to dining here since reading about the restaurant when we booked the trip.  Tiana's was a new restaurant added during the Fall 2016 dry dock.  I love Louisiana cuisine, and I also like The Princess and the Frog, so this was right up my alley.  

As proof that we did indeed dine with Tiana, I offer this.

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Yep, that's Tiana all right.

Our dining companions from the previous evening were on hand, again in matching outfits.  And the couple missing the night before was with us tonight.  But I was a bit more comfortable snapping pics this night, having come to the conclusion that I didn't care what those losers thought of me.  

For my appetizer, I tried the boudin.  

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I've had boudin in south Louisiana before.  Outstanding stuff.  Have any of you ever had Don's boudin?  

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That boudin in the region around Lafayette is DEEE-licous!  Tiana's boudin balls were....a bit not delicious.  Dry, and not too tasty.  So, this started out on a disappointing note.

I also tried a second app....shrimp and grits.  This was a bit better than the boudin.  Not great, but enjoyable.

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I don't recall what this soup was.  Or if it was good.  Must not have been too memorable.

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In the meantime, while we were enjoying our meal, the floor show was underway.  This was a party, man!

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I have to say, 70% of the reason I loved this restaurant was the atmosphere and entertainment.  Like many DCL meals, the food was good but wouldn't blow you away.  But the service, atmosphere and "show" put it over the top.  Tiana's was a blast!

Since it was my birthday, they brought this out.

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We also tried the Bananas Foster sundae.

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And bread pudding....and Beignets!!!

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Like the boudin, I expected those beignets to be a pale comparison of the real deal.  But I was wrong!  Those were delicious little bombs of goodness.

I ate my weight at this meal, and was stuffed!!  It was a great birthday dinner! 

We practically closed the restaurant down, and being the late dinner seating, it was after 10 at this point.  But remember, this was Pirate night!  So the evening was young, and we had more to do.  And, since there is a late night buffet on Pirate night, we had more to eat too!

Pirate night is fun not only because of the party up on deck, but it's also when DCL shoots off fireworks....a rarity on the sea.  

We found a good spot up on the top deck to watch Pirates In The Caribbean.

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After the fireworks, it was buffet time.  Keep in mind, we had just finished dinner.  A multi-course feast, with multiple appetizers and desserts.  Which itself had followed all you can eat wings.  I wasn't in the least bit hungry.  But, when cruising, you sometimes have to put on your big girls pants and dive in head first.  

Besides, they had crepes.  And turkey legs!

Just one little plate wouldn't hurt, would it?

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I took it in full Pirate mode.....AARGH!

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By this point, I was pretty much toast.  Over full.  Over tired.  It was time to turn in.  

We went back to the cabin, and discovered a towel rotisserie chicken hanging from the ceiling for some reason.  That cabin steward had a weird sense of humor. 

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Before turning in, I called room service to order coffee for the next morning.  I may have ordered a Mickey bar, too.  :blink:

We collapsed into bed for a great night's sleep.  Tomorrow was already our last day....which is the problem with 3 night cruises.  But, it was going to be an EPIC day.  Castaway Cay!  Without kids!  Which means Serenity Bay.  Plus, we had one of the most BIZARRE Disney experiences of all time.  And if you've ever read my old trip reports, you know that is saying something.  I have a knack for stumbling into really strange situations.  And on Saturday, Feb 18, I stumbled into a doozy. 

 

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16 minutes ago, dvccamper said:

What a treat, I haven't been on FF in ages but logged on tonight and found your thread. 

Excellent start at WL. We head to WDW a week from today and we're spending a couple of nights in one of the cabins. After reading about your visit Geyser Point and the Territory Lounge are two must-do's (as if they wouldn't be anyway...those drinks looked delicious).

 

Thanks for joining in!!  Have a great trip!

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