Live From the Wish, Feb 13-17, Bahamas cruise + DW pre-cruise adventure Feb 8-13

[Ken the cruiser]

This morning we’re hanging out at Legoland in Winter Haven with our other DD and grandson! Then this evening after chilling at the Polynesian for a few hours, we’ll be heading to Disney Springs for dinner and watching Cirque Du Solei afterwards! 😁
 

 

Pictures to follow. 

[Ken the cruiser]

We stuck around for a few hours at Legoland, but headed back to the Polynesian a little after Noon to rest up for this evening’s adventure at Disney Springs. 😁

 

But we had a great time and Legoland was definitely a lot bigger than we thought. Our DD and grandson decided to stay until they closed at 5 pm, so he could do some serious Lego construction before heading back! I would say for the most part the park amusements were geared towards children between 2 and 7.

 

Here are pictures of some of the various rides and amusements at the park!

  

 

It also has a hotel as well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
The following mini structures were of course were all made out of Legos! 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 11, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

This afternoon we headed over to Disney Springs which has grown over the years into a maze of shops, bars, and restaurants along with hosting the Cirque Du Soleil theater.

  

 

 

While we were waiting for our dinner reservation time at Raglan Road to roll around, we were sitting on a wall watching the people walk by. Across the way was Gideon’s Bakehouse. What’s unique about this bakery is that there is usually a 5 hour queue of folks waiting to go in to buy cookies or other bakery items! 

 

 
The line in the picture is just the final “virtual” queue where you line up after you get a text letting you know it’s short enough for you to finally be able to go into the bakery. Once you’re in the door, you tell them what bakery items you like, pay for it, and then leave. That’s it. There are no tables to sit at. It’s just a bakery! 😂
 

 
Here’s a bag of white chocolate bites that goes for $12.

 

  
Here’s a huge chocolate chip cookie that goes for $6 that our DD was kind enough to buy for us! It will probably take 3-4 samplings at different times before we’ll be able to finish it! 😁

 

  
Then it was time for our fantastic dinner before heading to the show!

 

 
By the time we finished, it was dark as we walked over to get in line for the Cirque Du Soleil which was at the far end of Disney Springs! As you can see, it was somewhat crowded at around 7:15 pm.

 

 

 
But we made it and the doors opened around 7:40 pm for the 8 pm show.

 

 

The following pictures were just from the “pre-show” as we weren’t allowed to take pictures during the actual production show.

 
This was a unique robotic pillow that really got the crowd reved up, which simply put was amazing!

 

 

 

These characters provided comic relief during the 10-15 acrobatic acts spread throughout the show. I can’t remember the exact number. But I will say each act was totally awesome!! BTW this is a new Cirque Du Soleil production here at Disney World. So if you have enjoyed them in the past, this one will simply blow you away!! 
 

 
As I mentioned, we weren’t allowed to take any pictures during the production show, but I decided to take one during their final curtain bow. I know, shame on me! 😂

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Today, our final full day in the area, we’re driving over to the Riviera Resort restaurant up on the 10th floor for breakfast with “the group”.

 

Then we’re off to the Crayola Experience, which is about 30 minutes away by car, from DW before taking our DD and grandson to the airport for their flight back home.
 

Then it’s on to Epcot where we will be spending the rest of the day before heading to Port Canaveral tomorrow to board the Disney Wish! Yay!!!

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[cruiseny4life]

Gosh! I'd need your cruise to catch up on sleep and relax my tires feet after everything you're doing. Knowing you, you'll be out excursioning away and not getting that rest! Can't wait to see the rest of your trip aboard Wish.

 

Edit: we went to Disney World last Christmas. Up until now I haven't wanted to return. Thanks to your photos, and experiences (even a 5 hour digital queue), I want to return...thanks a lot haha

Edited February 12, 2023 by cruiseny4life

[Ken the cruiser]

It was another fun day and I’ve got the pictures to prove it! 😂

  
After a very tasty breakfast, we headed over to Crayola Experience, which is at the end of a shopping mall.

  

 

 

 

 

 
Then once we dropped our DD and grandson off at the Orlando airport, we headed back to the Polynesian where we parked the car and took the monorail from the Ticket and Transportation Center next to the resort over to Epcot.

 

 

 

This is the second time we’ve been to Epcot on this trip. The last time was Friday evening at the After Hours anniversary party.
 

 

We once again bought Genie Plus tickets which allowed us access to the Lightening Lane that allowed us to bypass the long lines! 😄

 

 

 

 
Of course, after going on the Frozen Ever After ride, I couldn’t get “Let It Go” out of my head for awhile! 😂

 

 

There was a 45 minute wait to get on the Frozen ride if we didn’t have Genie Plus, whereas it only to us about 5 minutes to get on the ride.

 

 

 

 

 
Then we were off to our favorite ride, Soarin! 
  

 

These are some of the pictures we saw as we soared around the world!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we went on another one of our favorite rides in the same building, Living With the Land! 😄

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On previous times to Epcot we’ve also taken the Behind the Scenes tour like the one these folks are on.

 

  

 

Afterwards, it was time to head over to dinner at a new restaurant at Epcot called Space 220, which was quite the experience.

 

 

They “virtually” take you up 220 miles in the atmosphere by way of a super fast elevator, and then seat you in an area with a cool view of Earth and other things. 

 

 

 

  

We also learned about some very cool gadgets at dinner the younger generation seems to take for granted, portable cell phone chargers! Who knew!! 😂

 

 

After dinner we took one more stroll around the area before heading back to the resort on the monorail.

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

It’s another beautiful morning at Disney AND it’s once again transition day again on this unique B3B of ours. Yay!!  Our “self-guided excursion” drive this morning from Orlando to Port Canaveral looks to be a little over an hour, so we should have plenty of time to be at the port at our scheduled checkin time between 12:30 - 12:45 pm. 😁

  

[CruisinMama2003]

You always seem to have the best weather wherever you go! 

 

Thank you for taking all of us to Disney with you and now on another cruise! Have the best time, cheers 🍷🍸🏝

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, CruisinMama2003 said:

You always seem to have the best weather wherever you go! 

 

Thank you for taking all of us to Disney with you and now on another cruise! Have the best time, cheers 🍷🍸🏝

Thanks!! As far as the weather goes, we definitely have been lucky in that regard so far. Hopefully there are more blue skies for 5 more days, to include our drive back to Alabama after the cruise! 🤞

[PATRLR]

How was the Polynesian these days? 

[Norwaylady]

Love this😍 

Really want to do a new tour to Disney😁

 

Norway can report awful weather🌪️🌧️💨🌪️ Saturday afternoon to Sunday midday, Nesna had 32m/s wind😝 So a full storm… ( so great timing on our Hurtigruten sailing😅) 

Last 24h it’s still been windy and lots of rain, snow and slush🌧️🌧️🌧️

Our train to Bodø was stopped by a snow mudslide😑 

So a full flex ticket💸💸💸 at Widerøe airlines has taken us back to Bodø, so we can go back to Oslo later tonight by SAS 🤪🤪🤪 

Love Winter in the north of Norway 🇳🇴 

 

So I’m not a bit jealous on your travels now😂😂😂

[phabric]

What is in Crayola Experience?

How they make crayons?

Ride?

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived!! 
 

  
Luckily we’ve cruised with Disney before and are Silver, otherwise we would have had to stand in the “long” line. 
 

 
But instead we got to go in the much shorter “Lightening Lane”. 😁

 

 
Then once we checked in and went through security, we went straight onto the ship!

 

 
Unfortunately, our cabin wasn’t ready yet, so we headed to the buffet. And as you might imagine, it was packed and finding 2 seats was a chore. But we found 2 seats at a counter with a pretty view. 
 

 
After lunch we headed up top and found a couple of lounge chairs in the shade until our cabin was ready. 
 

 
Here’s a fun fact. There is no hand sanitizer anywhere. We asked! But there are hand washing stations up at the buffet. My guess is there will be someone at the MDR, as on prior Disney cruises squirting everyone’s hands prior to entering. 
 

Here’s another fun fact. The onboard internet account seems to be free, as I’m typing this in Airplane Mode and I did not purchase an internet plan. 🤔

 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

Love this😍 

Really want to do a new tour to Disney😁

 

Norway can report awful weather🌪️🌧️💨🌪️ Saturday afternoon to Sunday midday, Nesna had 32m/s wind😝 So a full storm… ( so great timing on our Hurtigruten sailing😅) 

Last 24h it’s still been windy and lots of rain, snow and slush🌧️🌧️🌧️

Our train to Bodø was stopped by a snow mudslide😑 

So a full flex ticket💸💸💸 at Widerøe airlines has taken us back to Bodø, so we can go back to Oslo later tonight by SAS 🤪🤪🤪 

Love Winter in the north of Norway 🇳🇴 

 

So I’m not a bit jealous on your travels now😂😂😂

But just think of all the memories your nasty weather is creating for you!! 😂

 

But if it were us living up there, we would be going on a long cruise about this time every year somewhere south of the Equator. But then we’re retired cruiseaholics. 😁

 

But in all seriousness, stay safe and warm as your weather conditions do not sound like a lot of fun! 

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, PATRLR said:

How was the Polynesian these days? 

Very nice; although we basically just stayed in our room when we weren’t at a park rather than eating at one of their restaurants or hanging out at one of their pools. 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, phabric said:

What is in Crayola Experience?

How they make crayons?

Ride?

It was pretty much what you saw in the pictures. It was all indoors at the end of a big shopping mall. But our grandson, who is 6 and quite the artist had a great time creating figures with the clay they provided, climbing in the variety of playtime structures, and a bunch of other drawing options to keep kid entertained. It cost about $23 per person to enter. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Here’s what a regular aft-facing balcony cabin looks like on the Wish. 
 

 

Separate bathrooms, with one for the shower and one for the toilet, which I believe is the norm for a Disney ship. 

 

 
Plus a comfortable size balcony. 
 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

And we’re off!! Next stop Nassau, Bahamas in 2 days. 😁

 

 
Before we left we had to go through the old style muster drill where our meeting point was in a MDR on Deck 4 aft. It was a little crowded as you can see. Hopefully we won’t have to do it for real on this cruise! 😂

 

 
We also bought the medium level Basic Internet Surf package for 2 devices for the entire 4-day cruise for $144.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

We also had a nice send off from the variety of sea gulls and pelicans! 😁

  

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

This evening we had a very tasty dinner in the MDR called Arendelle: A Frozen Dining Adventure. Then we headed back to the cabin where we saw this cute penguin hanging out on our bed before we headed to watch the evening production show called Seas the Adventure! 😀

 

 

 
Disney like with NCL doesn’t want you taking pictures during their production shows. But here is what their stage looks like. The seat rows are kind of close together, so it’s a little tough on the legs if you’re around 5’10” or taller. Our goal for this cruise is to find places where there is a little more leg room for our group of 6. In fact our DD has her eye on a section to check out tomorrow evening. 😁

 

 
Itinerary Update: Our DD pointed out we’ll be in Nassau tomorrow rather than being at sea as I originally thought. Who knew there was only one sea day on a 4-day cruise! 😂

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

We have arrived in Nassau, Bahamas!! Today we’re just hanging around the ship and going on the AquaMouse, the first ever Disney attraction at sea! 

 

 

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

Just got back from taking a ride on the AquaMouse, the first ever Disney ride at sea! Basically, it’s a water slide where 1-2 people get in an intertube, go up a ramp through a tunnel showing Mickey and Minnie cartoons, then down the water slide where you will definitely get wet! It was a lot of fun, especially since there were only two families in front of us making the wait time really short. The whole ride took about 2-3 minutes. 

 

The entrance is on Deck 13 Forward near the pool.

 

  
As you can see the line was pretty short at around 10:15 am.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

After a very tasty lunch in the 1923 MDR, which was a nice surprise as it’s a port day, we noticed as we walked back to our cabin there was quite the assortment of cabin door decorations. So many we had to limit our picture taking to those that had pouches and “stuff”. However, the ones that really caught are eye also had lights too! But TBH we were stumped as to the purpose of the hanging pouches. 😂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

This afternoon we’re joining our DD in one of the lounges onboard to participate in this Unchartered Adventure!

 

 

 

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[abpplh]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

After a very tasty lunch in the 1923 MDR, which was a nice surprise as it’s a port day, we noticed as we walked back to our cabin there was quite the assortment of cabin door decorations. So many we had to limit our picture taking to those that had pouches and “stuff”. However, the ones that really caught are eye also had lights too! But TBH we were stumped as to the purpose of the hanging pouches. 😂

 

Those hanging pouches are called fish extenders.  Cheick this out:

https://dclfan.com/onboard-activities/what-in-the-world-is-a-disney-cruise-line-fish-extender/

Edited February 14, 2023 by abpplh