Guest Trip Report: December 14, 2019 Eastern Caribbean on the Disney Fantasy – MVMCP

My older son was up and at ‘em pretty early this morning and although he tried not to wake me, it’s hard in a hotel room! With getting in late the night before, a cold developing and barely sleeping the night prior to that with my daughter being diagnosed with Influenza B, I was pretty exhausted. So, once both boys woke up, my mom and mother-in-law (who had arrived around midnight) were kind enough to take them for a few hours so I could sleep. After they ate breakfast, they all decided to check out the Disney Skyliner, but unfortunately, it started raining and they weren’t able to ride it at that time.

Once they came back, I met up with them in my mom/mother-in-law’s room. They were staying in a standard room in the Jamaica section of the resort. It was a nice hotel room with standard décor (a little bit of a Caribbean vibe), but had larger beds than the pirate room and a better location. My sister-in-law and her family had also arrived late the night before and were staying in the room next to my mom and mother-in-law (I had linked their reservations in advance). Their 10-year old daughter and my 11-year old son really wanted to ride the Disney Skyliner, so once the rain let up, the grandmas were kind enough to take them again. My younger son and nephew (both seven) wanted to rest a little. 

After they had a break, we decided to go swimming. I needed to get the two little boys from their room in Jamaica, to our room in Trinidad (so my son could get his suit on) and then to Old Port Royale for swimming. This proved difficult, as the boys kept stopping to chase lizards and play on the hammocks!

I think they were really enjoying the summer weather after a chilly Midwest fall this year. Plus, we don’t have lizards in Wisconsin, so that was definitely exciting!

By the time we actually made it to the pool area, our entire party was already there and swimming. The kids loved the pool with the canon slides !

There were also staff members playing games with the kids in the pool area which my older son really enjoyed! I watched for awhile and then headed with some of the other adults to Centertown Market to get lunch for everyone. To make life easier, I just got cheeseburgers for myself and the boys. They were fine – nothing special, but tasted good enough. We decided to eat them in the pool area, which was a little bit of a mistake. The seagulls were fierce out there and kept stealing our fries!

After lunch, we needed to leave to get ready for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. It was about 2:30 pm and I wanted to leave the resort around 3:00 pm, so that we could enter the Magic Kingdom promptly at 4:00 pm (when they allow guests in for the holiday parties). However, once we got back to the room, Ryan (my older son) started complaining about not feeling well. Given that my daughter was sick with Influenza B, I started to get worried. I texted the grandmas that we’d be a little late so Ryan could get some rest and gave him some Tylenol. This worked out fine since Matthew (my younger son) had been splashing in puddles and his gym shoes weren’t dry yet. I used the hair dryer to get them as dry as possible, while Ryan rested.

Shortly after 3:00 pm, Ryan was ready to go (I think the medicine kicked in), so we headed to the bus stop at Old Port Royale to meet up with the grandmas. My sister-in-law and her family had decided not to go to the party. I should also point out that my husband’s cousin and his family were also in Orlando at this point, but his wife has family in the area and they were staying with them until the cruise.

Once we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, everything went very smoothly. They were only allowing guests with party tickets in at that point, so the line was very short. 

Once we got into the park, we were in awe! It was so beautifully decorated for Christmas! Although this was my thirteenth trip to the Walt Disney World Resort, I’d never been there at Christmas time. It is just magnificent! I did get a little sad that my daughter couldn’t be there since she really would have enjoyed the decorations, but I knew it was better that she get her rest for the cruise. We snapped a few pictures on Main Street, but were in a little bit of a hurry to get to our first FastPass+ selection by 4:50 pm. 

Because we only had party tickets and not park tickets, I did two FastPass+ selections for our time in the park prior to the party starting at 7:00 pm. I DO NOT recommend doing this if you have a ticket package and party tickets. The system gets confused and will many times take off your last day of FastPasses. It doesn’t always happen, but it is not worth risking it. However, since that wasn’t our situation, we decided to grab a couple of the hard to get rides for prior to the party starting! 

Our first FastPass+ selection was Peter Pan’s Flight. It is a little bit of a hike to get to this attraction from the front entrance, but we made it in plenty of time. When we got to the ride, Ryan started complaining about not feeling well again. I gave him some ibuprofen, but was now starting to get worried that he was really sick. We were able to ride Peter Pan’s Flight and waited in a relatively short line for It’s a Small World.

Then it was time for our other FastPass+ selections. My mother-in-law is brave and offered to take the boys on Space Mountain, while my mom and I opted for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. However, we both decided on the way there that it was a little too much for us that night. I now get dizzy pretty easily on rides and with having a cold, I didn’t think it was the best decision. So, we headed to Pinocchio’s Village Haus to get dinner. The boys had a blast on Space Mountain! Once they got off, they texted us their order. We were lucky we placed our order when we did, as they stopped taking orders shortly after that to prepare for the party. 

We all ate our dinner (most of us got pizza, which was fine) and then went up to get our free treat and drink for the party, which they had started serving while we ate. The treat at Pinocchio’s Village Haus was a snickerdoodle cookie and the drink was orange Fanta.

Then we were off! The boys saw a bubble wand vendor and Matthew decided he wanted to use part of his gift card to purchase one. The kids had all received Disney gift cards for various occasions prior to the trip to use as spending money. Unfortunately, the kiosk did not accept Disney gift cards, but the grandmas came to the rescue and each bought the boys a bubble wand.

We then headed to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, since according to the app, there was only a 10-minute wait (which was accurate). On the way, we grabbed another party treat – fruit snacks. Wherever there is a cinnamon stick, party-goers are able to collect complimentary treats and/or drinks!

Next up was Pirates of the Caribbean, which also had a 10-minute wait. We also wanted to check out the pretzels by that ride. But on the way, Ryan started not feeling well again. We were able to ride Pirates (which we all love) and then he was done. It was only 8:00 pm and he wanted to go back to the room. This is not at all like him, so I knew something was wrong. Although I didn’t want to leave the party and miss the fireworks and parade, I knew he needed to go back to the room. And, as all parents can relate to, a sick child is always first.

We made our way back through the crowds to the entrance and then out to the buses. At this point, the line to get into the Magic Kingdom was pretty long (so a helpful hint is to arrive early to the holiday parties). Fortunately, the bus for Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort was already there, so we were able to hop right on. I sent Matthew back to the grandmas’ room and Ryan and I headed back to our room.

Ryan was sick all night long. Sleeping and waking up every time his medicine wore off. It felt like he had a fever, but I didn’t have a thermometer with me to tell for sure. At this point, I was convinced he had caught Influenza B from my daughter Kate.

My husband and I stayed on the phone almost all night, trying to figure out what to do. Ryan was in absolutely no shape to get to the cruise port, let alone board the ship. And given what we’d just gone through with Kate, we knew it was going to be like this for a few days. My husband and daughter needed to leave the house by 5:00 am the next morning to make their flight, so we had to make a decision by then. To say this was a stressful night would be an understatement. Stay tuned, to see what happened the next day.