Disney Wonder Baja Cruise: Day 2 - Door Hangers

Date of Visit: October 15, 2018

Mik and I enjoyed a few different craft and origami events this cruise. The door hangers were probably our favorite, especially since Mik was able to actually do it without much help. The only problem is the small round tables are kind of short to roll up to and use, but since it was just gluing things down it worked out okay for this craft.

Mik made a Lakers themed one and I made a Halloween themed one.

Disney Wonder Baja Cruise: Day 1 - Tiana’s Place

Date of Visit: October 14, 2018

This was our first time on the Wonder since they turned Parrot’s Cay into Tiana’s Place. We enjoyed the atmosphere of the new design, although we also did like Parrot’s Cay, and the first night it was just the same menu in all the restaurants and we didn’t get the full Tiana’s Place experience until later in the cruise.

Going into the restaurant was a little awkward as the host decided to take over pushing Mik at the entrance. I initially just let him because I thought he just wanted to do the go backwards over the big bump to enter and was going to then let me continue pushing Mik, but instead, he handed Mik off to someone to lead us to our table. That guy then kind of got lost and another guy did a slick switch of table numbers when he realized the original table 67 was impossible to get a wheelchair to and there was no one at the nearby table next to the main aisle.

We all enjoyed the calamari for our appetizer. Mik was going to get the clam chowder, which is another fav of his, but I messed up when ordering for him and he didn’t correct me because really he kind of wanted calamari and wasn’t hungry enough to also do a soup.

For the entree, Mik chose the pork tenderloin wellington. As usual, the server asked if he needed help cutting it up and we enjoyed letting them do it instead of us the whole cruise.

Mik was going to be different and have the warm sticky fig and pecan pudding, but I discouraged him since he usually doesn’t like pecans and he hadn’t noticed that was part of it. Instead, he enjoyed his typical choice of a sundae (Magical Express Sundae).

I enjoyed the creme brûlée while also feeling like something was missing until the next day I realized that my typical choice of the trio of desserts seems to have disappeared from all the menus.

Disney Wonder Baja Cruise: Day 1 - Cabanas

Date of Visit: October 14, 2018

Mik wasn’t really hungry as he had eaten the rest of the free DoubleTree cookies right before we went to the port. However, when Mom brought over a piece of pumpkin pie, he found some room.

Other than when we first get on the ship we have never taken Mik to the buffet so I’m not sure if the table pedestal leg design has always been a problem or not. At first we tried to sit near the windows at a rectangle table and found we couldn’t roll Mik up close enough. In another area we ended up getting some help from a cast member to turn a circle table so he could roll up with one of the corners of the pedestals between his casters.

We later found at breakfast the next day the way the rectangle tables were next to booth seating actually worked out the best, especially since we got the table right by the main pathway. However, mostly we just find it easier to bring it back to the room or if you can get a table outside by the pools.

Disney's Dream: Vanellope’s Sweets and Treats

Date of Visit: December 9-10, 2015

Having found memories of the Sorcerer at Disney’s Soda Fountain, doing the Family Challenge at Vanellope’s was a must for us. It’s also a decent deal for trying out some flavors instead of each getting our own, especially since we didn’t realize it came with 8 toppings.

The flavors we selected were King Candy Ice Cream, Butterscotch Waffle Crunch Ice Cream, Tiramisu Gelato, Key Lime Pie Gelato, Red Velvet & Cookies Gelato, Candy Cane Gelato, White Chocolate and Rhubarb Gelato, and Candy Explosion Gelato. Mik’s favorite was the Red Velvet & Cookies Gelato.

We also couldn’t resist trying some of the other treats. Mik enjoyed the Red Velvet Cupcake.

I tried the peanut butter blondie, but found it had too much chocolate and other stuff. The peanut butter Mickey cookie was very good, though.

The stuff at Vanellope’s is an extra thing to purchase, which is somewhat unnecessary with plenty of included good stuff on the ship, but they’re mostly very reasonably priced for what you get ($19.95 for the Family Challenge and $2.50 each for the other treats we got).

Disney’s Dream 4-Night Bahamian Cruise: Castaway Cay Holiday Decorations

Date of Visit: December 9, 2015

Mostly we’re not interested in Castaway Cay and Mik doesn’t even get off the ship, but this time we did get off to walk around a little to take photos of the holiday decorations.

The decorations are mostly between the ship and the first Tram station. There’s also some cool wreaths on the road past the tram station, but they’re hard to see from the walkway and I guess more meant to see from the tram.

The main thing to see is the Christmas tree right when you get off the ship. You can do photo ops with the Mickey sleigh and/or sand snowmen in the background, but we decided to do it from the other side sort of with the ship in the background because of where the sun was in the morning.

Of course, a picture with Mount Rustmore was a must!

Disney’s Dream 4-Night Bahamian Cruise: Day 2 - Royal Palace

Date of Visit: December 8, 2015

The Royal Palace was our restaurant for the second and third nights. The second night was the regular menu for the restaurant. Again, I was happy that our location had a half booth.

Mik was iffy on ordering the escargot because for once he actually read the description, which mentions mushrooms. However, I convinced him to still get them because he is always talking about loving escargot and it was on a Disney cruise he first had them. As usual, he loved them and didn’t even notice the mushrooms.

For the soup, he had the Potage Parmentier.

The entree he choose was the Chateaubriand-Roasted Filet Steak.

He enjoyed the Apple Tart Tatin for dessert.

Disney’s Dream 4-Night Bahamian Cruise: Day 1 - Enchanted Garden

Date of Visit: December 7, 2015

The Enchanted Garden was our restaurant for the first night. Walking to our table I was envying the circular booths they have saying too bad we never can have a booth with the wheelchair, but turns out they do have some half booths and we did get one of those tables. Not as cool, but I do love booths.

Mik enjoyed the North Atlantic Lobster Ravioli for the appetizer.

For the soup he choose the Cream of Green Asparagus, which he didn’t particularly like, but he did like it better than the tomato soup, which he remembered not liking last time.

Mik loved the Slow Roasted Prime Rib entree.

The dessert Mik selected was the Apple Cinnamon Crunch Sundae, which is one of his favorite sundaes.

I don't know if the Dream really is different than the Fantasy or if we just weren't paying attention or it was our location, but the Enchanted Garden didn't seem to have the flowers open up or the sky ceiling change as you went through dinner like I remember on the Fantasy. The Animator's Palette also didn't have you draw yourself to be animated, which I was thankful to not have to do, but it did make it seem like the restaurants weren't as much of an experience beyond the different menus.

Disney Dream: Stateroom 9170

Date of Visit: December 7-11, 2015

This stateroom was pretty much the same as the one we had on the Fantasy (see review here). Of course, we most love that the door automatically opens when you touch your Key to the World card to unlock it. Although, it is slightly hard to open from inside manually, but that just meant we all used the button to open it to go out and not just when we were pushing Mik. I still want this for our condo, but at least we have gotten something similar installed for Mik to get into our building.

I don’t think it was any different on the Fantasy, but somehow this time Mik found the slightly ramped exit to the bathroom troublesome and kept face planting and getting a rug burn when he crawled out of the bathroom. Dad told Mik he needed to work on his push-ups.

Of course, my favorite part of the room was the verandah even though it was unusable part of the trip when it was raining.

We did enjoy some On Demand movies, but for some reason the selection seemed more limited this trip. I was particularly disappointed they didn’t have all The Santa Clause movies, but at least we could watch the first one and it’s not like we don’t own them to watch at home.

Disney Fantasy Caribbean Cruise: Day 7 – See Ya’ Real Soon Dinner at Animator’s Palate

Date of Visit: October 3, 2014

On our last night and second evening at Animator's Palate we got to see how it really is different dining in the newer Animator's Palate. The concept of drawing a character and them coming to life at the end of the evening is definitely interesting. The cartoons and music playing on the screens during the meal is also nice, but they are also too much entertainment and Mik kept forgetting to eat his food because he was mesmerized by the clips from Disney movies and cartoons.

Mik tried the evening's non-alcoholic specialty drink called Kissss. He was surprised he liked it so much as he normally doesn't like pomegranate.

He enjoyed the Macaroni Cheese and Baked Potato Soup course.

For the main course he enjoyed the Roasted Filet of Beef Wellington. He did not like the mushroom puff pastry outside, but it was easy to avoid that part.

Mik loves finishing the cruises with the Baked Alaska dessert, although it was somewhat disappointed that they did not parade out with the cakes flaming like ever other Disney Cruise we've been on.

Disney Fantasy Caribbean Cruise: Day 5 – Pirate Dinner at Royal Court

Date of Visit: October 1, 2014

Mik enjoyed the Pirates Golden “Pot Stickers” as his appetizer.

He had the Caribbean-style Conch Chowder for the soup/salad course, which he didn’t particularly like.

For the main course he had The Dutchmen’s Dijon Crusted Sirloin of Beef, which he enjoyed as usual. He was not sure about getting it because it came with sweet potatoes, but we said he did not have to eat those. However, he tried them and for once he actually liked sweet potatoes.

For dessert he had his typical sundae. This time it was the Crunch Time Sundae. He wasn’t sure about the rum raisin ice cream part, but he enjoyed it because he mostly tasted the pineapple.

He also enjoyed my birthday mousse cake, which he had been looking forward to and claimed way back when we booked this cruise when we were on our last cruise in June 2013.

Disney Fantasy Caribbean Cruise: Day 5 – Guardians of the Galaxy 3D in Walt Disney Theater

Date of Visit: October 1, 2014

Mik mostly stuck to enjoying the stateroom and watching the on demand movies in the room this trip; but the one thing that excited him was the opportunity to see the Guardians of the Galaxy 3D movie. The movie was shown in the Walt Disney Theater as the evening show.

Dad noticed there were some wheelchair spots in the lower section and instead of asking how to get there he just took Mik down the steps, which really is not that hard, but seriously why would there be spots down there if there was not an accessible way to get down there. Of course, there is and after the show they asked and had to wait for someone to come that had the keys and could take them the accessible route out, which involves calling the bridge to go through some waterlock doors and going through crew quarters. Definitely worthwhile, though, as Mik was able to see the whole screen and really enjoy the movie unlike when we sat at the top of the theater to see Monsters University on the Magic.

Disney Fantasy Caribbean Cruise: Day 4 – Prince and Princess Dinner at Enchanted Garden

Date of Visit: September 30, 2014

Mik tried the Beast’s Potato and Sausage Casserole Soup for the soup/salad course. He did not like it because it seemed too bland.

For the main course he had the Peppercorn Crusted New York Strip, which he loved.

Since the sundae for the evening had Rocky Road Ice Cream and nothing else interested him, he skipped the dessert.

Disney Fantasy Caribbean Cruise: Day 3 – Pacific Rim Cuisine at Animator’s Palate

Date of Visit: September 29, 2014

The third evening was our evening for the Pacific Rim Cuisine at Animator’s Palate. The Finding Nemo theme with Crush and the screens doing the shapes with the fish is interesting, but as a Sorcerer Mickey fan I much prefer the original Animator’s Palate show. Yeah, you kind of got that on our second visit, but the way the original Animator’s slowly goes from black and white to color is much more interesting in our opinion.

Mik decided to try the evening’s specialty non-alcoholic cocktail, which was called the Bora Shake. He has tried a couple different specialty cocktails on the cruises over the years, but his favorite has always been the Lemonaska from the Alaskan Cruise. That is it was his favorite until he tried the Bora Shake, which is now his favorite he’s had on the Disney Cruises.

Mik had the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes for his appetizer, which must have been really good because I never even got a chance to take a picture of it.

For the soup/salad course, he had the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup, which he only had a few bites of because he thought it tasted too much like nacho cheese.

For the main course, he had the Pennete Bolognese, which he also did not really like. I had the Seared Red Snapper, which both him and Dad tried a bite of and they both wished they had got that.

His soup and main course selection might have been duds for him, but his dessert selection was a guaranteed good one, as it was his favorite sundae (Cookies & Cream). We also got a special Spider chocolate mousse dessert since it was the Halloween evening on the ship.

Disney Fantasy Caribbean Cruise: Day 3 – Cozumel Private Vehicle w/ Lift Port Adventure

Date of Visit: September 29, 2014

I kept going back and forth on doing any port adventure in Cozumel, but two weeks before the trip I went to look at the options and since I could book the private vehicle w/ lift option online I finally just went ahead and did it. I am glad we did because while we only used it for two hours, we had a great family adventure at the Mayan ruins.

The private vehicle w/ lift was really just an accessible taxi. The driver was a great guide, though, so they clearly are experienced taking people around as guides.

The lift was in the back and there were two bench rows of seats in front. He did have to duck his head when going in, though, which was sort of inconvenient. Good thing we didn’t bring the power chair, as that would have never worked in the vehicle or at the Mayan ruins.

There were no tie downs, but it must not have been too bad because Mik did not freak out that much and he is known to freak out on the Walt Disney World buses and Super Shuttles where they do use great tie down techniques. There also weren’t any working seat belts, so it’s not like the other passengers were any safer.