The travel day for our Disney Dream cruise finally arrived!  We had decided to leave really early so that we could join our friends at the airport.  We could easily kill time in the Admirals Club lounge at Reagan National Airport.  We were going to get the girls from school around noon, then leave for the airport at 12:30, which should get us there at 1:00 pm.  The flight didn’t leave until 3:00 pm, so we should have plenty of time to get lunch as well. 

I thought we were getting a jump on the trip when we picked the kids up at 11:30 am.  But, that quickly went sideways.  Our youngest daughter had a slight medical issue that was going to require a trip to the doctor for some medication.  Nancy took her and headed off to the urgent care, hoping that we would be able to make it on time.  My wife was in and out of the urgent care in about an hour and a half, but that put us at about 1:15 pm.  We still had to get her prescription filled and get to the airport.  We loaded everybody in the car and headed to the drugstore.  Nancy ran into the drug store and quickly explained our issue.  It still took them a little bit to put the prescription together, but they definitely went above and beyond to speed us on our way.  We left the drug store around 1:45 pm and drove like crazy to get to Reagan National.  We parked in the daily parking and went inside.  We found a relatively empty check-in line and checked our bags.  Thankfully, we have TSA Precheck, which got us through security in less than 5 minutes.  We arrived at the gate just as boarding started.  Thankfully, our friends had grabbed us lunch so we got a chance to eat before boarding.  They were life savers!

The American Airlines flight to Orlando was uneventful and we were soon on the little monorail from the gate to the main terminal.  We headed down to baggage claim to pick our bags up, then headed towards the Hyatt Regency that is located in the airport.  It is the same hotel we stayed at during our Star Wars Cruise.  The Hyatt Regency is located right next to the Security Checkpoint for Gates 70-129.  The lobby/check in for the hotel is actually located on the fourth floor, so we went there with our luggage.

We had originally booked this room using one of the two free nights from our Chase Hyatt card signup bonus for our canceled October cruise.  Once Disney notified us that the cruise was canceled, we canceled the room booking and then re-booked the free night for this cruise. 

We arrived on the fourth floor and were greeted by the hotel staff, who quickly checked us in.  The room itself was the exact same room we had three weeks before!  We dropped off our luggage and headed back into the airport for dinner.  We were all pretty tired from running around, so we decided to have a quick dinner at the food court.  After dinner, we went back to the room for an early bedtime.

We woke up early the next morning because it was time to go and get on the cruise!  The Hyatt Regency offers a program where you can spend the night before a cruise at the hotel and they will send your bags in the morning to the ship.  You just have to tell them you want to participate in the program and they will give you a letter than explains everything.  You then put the Disney Cruise Line luggage tags on your bags and leave them in the room.  The hotel will gather your bags and deliver them to the Disney Cruise Line luggage transfer people.  We decided against doing this and just handled our bags ourselves.

We met up with our friends in the airport in front of the Hyatt. We went to grab a quick breakfast and coffee at the nearby Starbucks.  Here is a great tip that Nancy learned from an airport worker during our last trip.  If you are looking at the Hyatt Regency, there is a Starbucks on the left.  However, don’t go to that Starbucks if it has a long line.  Instead, go down the steps to the left of the store.  There is a smaller Starbucks down the stairs that is rarely busy.  We never had a wait going to that Starbucks and the upstairs one had a line that was at least 20 minutes long.  After a quick breakfast, we headed towards the B side of the airport (if you are looking at the Hyatt Regency, it is towards the right).  We headed down the stairs and towards Disney Cruise Ground Transportation.

On the left hand side, you will see the Disney Cruise Line Luggage service.  We went outside and the luggage handlers scanned the luggage tags, took our luggage, and loaded it into the truck.  We then headed back inside and got into the line for the Disney Cruise Ground Transportation.

Once we got to the front of the line, they checked our cruise documentation, verified our passports, and sent us forward .  We were then assigned onto the next available bus.  Of course, we had to stop and take pictures of the bus!

We waited a bit until the bus was fully loaded, and then we were off to Port Canaveral.  The trip took about 45 minutes and most of that time was filled with various videos that played.  Some were advertisements for Disney Cruise Line and some were just cartoons to keep the kids entertained.  The bus is equipped with a bathroom, just in case!

After about 45 minutes, we could finally see the Disney Dream!  Unfortunately, I somehow failed to take any pictures in the terminal this time.  I think it was because we spent most of the time talking with our friends, who had never taken a Disney cruise before.  We got off the bus and headed inside.  We had to stop for the security screening line, of course.  We then headed to the check in line for the cruise.  While waiting in the line, we got a health survey form that asked if anyone in our group had a fever or diarrhea within the past 72 hours.  We filled the form out and turned it in when we approached the counter.  A cast member looked at our cruise documentation, scanned our passports, and then issued us our Key To The World Cards and our Gold lanyards for being Gold Castaway Club Members.

We decided not to even bother checking for a stateroom upgrade on this cruise.  Our friends had selected a stateroom that was in the same area as ours, so we decided to stay put.   We grabbed a Navigator and settled in until our boarding group was called.  Because we had an early port arrival time of 10:30 AM, we were in the third boarding group.  Unfortunately, our friends were in boarding group 25.  They insisted we go on board and just meet them on board.  Soon our number was called and we headed onto the ship!

Planning | Travel | Boarding | Nassau | Castaway Cay | Disembarkation

 

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