The Disney Exchange- Episode 19 Show Notes: The Disney Cruise Line

By Nick

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

-Main Topic: The Disney Cruise Line

 -The Disney Exchange is David Hodges, Lisa Green, and me Nicholas Maglio  

-Thank you Hatbox Mouse for the topic suggestion. Congratulations on your marriage!

-Lisa answers fan mail, to herself, during the show. Just saying.

-There are 4 ships, the Disney Magic, the Disney Wonder, the Disney Dream, and the Disney Fantasy.

-Lisa talks about her upcoming trip to Norway and the Castaway Club benefits are discussed, including a special line for boarding and gifts in your stateroom.

 Photo: Lisa

Photo: Dave

-Lisa and I agree you MUST go to Alaska!

-Dave's cruises have been to the Bahamas, home of Starbucks. And Atlantis.

-Dave suggests getting off the ship in Nassau at least once and getting a rum cake at Tortugas.

Photo: Dave

-Port Canaveral, embarkation, parking and Magical Express from Walt Disney World is discussed. Tip everyone folks. Okay, not fellow passengers, but if someone handles your bags, tip them. 

Photo: Lisa

-Not surprisingly, the conversation turns to alcohol, and the fact Disney allows it in carry on.

If you check it you will lose it. 

-Cleanliness of Staterooms, and the ship in general is discussed.

 Photo: Dave

-Buffets on the ships are AWESOME!

-Be on time for your Lifeboat Drill!

-Don't miss the Sail Away Celebration!

-Booking on board perks and rules are discussed.

-We talk about dinner seating times. There are 2, the early has more children, the later, 830pm seating is quieter.

-Aquaduck! 

-Don't miss Animators Palate on the Disney Dream. We did, and I am sad.

Photos: Dave

-Like coffee? Dave and Lisa suggests the Cove Cafe for specialty coffee. I like Disney coffee. 

-Be sure to read your Navigator for information. It is a wonderful resource!

Photo: Lisa

-Look for a group on Facebook for your cruise, you can meet many friends, and get in on get group activities.

-Lisa and Dave explain the "fish extender."

Photo: Dave

-Dining rooms are discussed. It always comes back to food eventually. 

-We talk dress codes. The photo below features Lisa, her lovely family, and $20,000 worth of clothes.

Photo: Lisa

-Get your clothes laundered on the ship, especially if they are worth $20,000.

-We try to wrap it up, for 20 minutes.

-See the shows! Even if they stink! And movies! Even if they stink!

-Castaway Cay is the best! THE BEST!

-The Pirate Party is not to be missed! Mickey Mouse, Captain Jack, and fireworks!

-Dress like a Pirate!

-Holidays are terrific on the ships!

-The spas are tremendous!

-Your kids won't want to leave their age appropriate areas!

-Bottom line: Disney Cruises are not cheap, but they are AMAZING!

-The Wheel of DIStany topic: Favorite Walt Disney World 3D attractions.

Thank you for listening to The Disney Exchange, the Podcast for Disney Cruise Line Lovers.

-Please share your favorite souvenir with us on:

TheDisneyExchange.com
twitter.com/disneyexchange
https://www.facebook.com/thedisneyexchange

If you'd like to drop us an email: info@thedisneyexchange  

Disney Favorites of 2014

By Nick

2014 was a good year. We were very fortunate to visit Walt Disney World several times, and take a 4 night Cruise on the Disney Dream.

I shared food favorites this past Friday, but there was, of course, many other great attractions, experiences and entertainment, including one of my all time favorite movies ever, Guardians of the Galaxy. As these are in no particular order we may as well start there.

Guardians of the Galaxy is action packed, cleverly written, touching, fun, and, oh yea, funny. I got the 3D Blu-ray for Barbie for Christmas, because she loved it as much as me. If you haven't seen it, you really should.

Staying in the super hero vein, I would like to mention Marvel's Agents of Shield on ABC. Technically, it started in 2013, but it went from pretty good to great when they tied it in with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, (also highly recommended) making for one big, exciting, cohesive story full of great twists. Season 1 of Agents has recently been released on Netflix.

Speaking of ABC television, we discovered another favorite, Once Upon a Time. Yes, I know we are late to the party, and I don't feel this newest season was the best, but we love the show and all the Disney references they put in, and we had a great time binge watching the first 3 seasons, which can also be found on Netflix.

On to Walt Disney World. In January, we stayed at my new favorite resort, the Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort. Great location, great views, being able to hear the Magic Kingdom come alive early in the morning and watch the monorail and ferry go back and forth across Seven Seas Lagoon, the room was beautiful, the restaurants, the pools and the great beer selection at the bars.
I could go on and on.

On that same trip back in January, we had what I'm going to choose as best experience at Walt Disney World last year; being picked as the Celebrities of the Day at our favorite restaurant, The Hollywood Brown Derby in Disney's Hollywood Studios.

I say best experience at Walt Disney World, because we had really great experiences outside the bubble, which I would be totally remiss if I didn't discuss, so, in the interest of fairness, I have to mention Barbie getting chosen for a wand, or should I say, the wand choosing Barbie, at Ollivander's Wand Shop in Diagon Alley at Universal Studios. Our overall time at Universal was terrific fun, but this was my favorite moment, and as I type this, I'm looking over at the wand prominently displayed in our living room.

Back to Disney!
I have 2 days which leap out immediately as being favorites, overall, both of which are chronicled in trip reports, something I've started doing as a way to not only share our vacation with friends and family as well as blog readers, but mostly as a way for Barbie and I to remember.

The 1st day was on the Disney Dream, our first visit to Castaway Cay, and dressing as Santa and Mrs. Claus for the Halloween on the High Seas activities that evening.

 The second day was from our most recent trip. It was easily the most festive day of the holiday season for me, where we started the day taking the Behind the Seeds tour at Epcot, met Father Christmas in the UK, Barbie and I got our photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, we had and excellent lunch at the Biergarten in Germany, complete with Christmas Carols from the band there, watched the most moving of all the storytellers, La Befana in Italy, saw the Candlelight Processional narrated by LaVar Burton and were very amused by the antics of Sigrid and Julenissen in Norway! Whew! And I'm leaving stuff out, even!

Favorite attraction. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It's very well themed, features my favorite Disney character, Grumpy, and it doesn't make me motion sick. What's not to love? A new MUST do each trip!

Also at the Magic Kingdom, you'll find my favorite new afternoon parade, The Festival of Fantasy. Actually, there is only this one afternoon parade in Walt Disney World! We aren't parade fans, but this is worth seeing each and every trip!

Best Sing Along, (only Sing-Along ?) goes to For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration. As I've written about here on Musings, because we don't have kids, we really didn't get bombarded with the juggernaut Frozen became, so we really actually liked all the Frozen themed stuff around the park, and this sing-along was amazing, if only to hear a few hundred people sing what are some really great songs.

Best Character interactions; We love getting photos with characters, and the best are when there are multiple characters that interact with each other. At Disney's Animal Kingdom, we met King Louie and Baloo, and they had an altercation over Barbie's affections! It was hilarious.

A close runner up, Mickey Mouse. He talked to us! And not only that, he asked if we would like to pose as the Hitchhiking Ghosts! That was awesome.

 
Favorite new Podcast? Well, that's easy! The Disney Exchange, hosted by Lisa Green, Dave Hodges, and me! Please check us out on iTunes!

What was your favorite Disney moment of 2014?

Disney Food Favorites of 2014

By Nick

We ate a lot of great food in 2014, so I thought I'd take a look at some of our favorites.

My new favorite Snack, well, it's new to me anyway, is the Dole Whip Swirl. Pineapple and Vanilla. As a purist, I'd been avoiding it for the longest time, but Barbie thinks plain Pineapple is too sweet, so I gave this a shot. And, she was right, swirl is better!

Snack runner up and Barbie's fav, the Croissant Donut.

Favorite Breakfast: The All You Care to Enjoy Breakfast Platter (and then some, in our case) at Whispering Canyon in the Wilderness Lodge, which consists of Scrambled Eggs, Western Home Fries, Bacon, Sausage, Waffles, Buttermilk Biscuits and Sausage Gravy. Not only was the food delicious, but our server, Jeffro, was excellent.

Our friend Jill with Jeffro

  
Favorite Cheeseburger: Cheeseburgers are my favorite food. Surprisingly, the best Disney burger I had all last year was on the Disney Dream, from Tow Mater's Grill! So good, I forgot to get a photo of it!

Favorite Lunch: Afternoon Tea in the Garden View Lounge at the Grand Floridian. Delicious tea, alcoholic beverages, tiny sandwiches, and pastries. Plus we met and made friends with a wonderful couple. A great afternoon!

Favorite Epcot Internationl Food and Wine Festival offering: the Seared Sea Scallop at Scotland, moist and tender and the spinach-Cheddar Gratin and Crispy Bacon was amazing. So good, I had 2.

Favorite new beer: Einstok, Icelandic White Ale, light and refreshing on a hot day.

 
If I'm honest, no dinner entree stood out as being better than my perennial favorite, the Pork Chop at the Hollywood Brown Derby. 

I'd be completely wrong in not giving an honorable mention to The Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley at Universal Studios, which offers traditional British fair. We ate 2 excellent dinners there, and I look forward to returning in the future.

 The Bangers and Mash

Also, at Universal, they now serve warm Butterbeer, which is better than the cold, and that is saying something indeed!

Please stop back Monday for a variety of favorite attractions and experiences from 2014.