Yesterday night Emily got to sleep in a big queen size bed, she felt a bit lonely and asked me (papa) to join her. Emily slept like a baby, mama slept very well and papa slept a little bit too and when we woke up we watched a movie! At 8am our suitcases needed to be ready for pickup and right after we left our room for breakfast.

We took the Disney Transportation bus towards Disney Springs to get breakfast and coffee at the Starbucks. After strolling through the shopping area we took the bus back to our resort and we figured 45 minutes would give us plenty of time.

But that went a bit different as we planned… After 25 minutes there was still no bus and our checkout time, the time we couldn’t enter our room to get our last bags, came closer and closer. Plan B was one of us taking an Über, the other the bus with Emily. Emily wanted to stay with me and so Danielle got her first Über experience. In the end Emily and I arrived at the resort at 10:59 and quicker as Mama but we couldn’t exit the bus.

Luckily I was able to extend our hotel stay with one hour which gave us a bit spare time to get our stuff. Danielle went to our room to grab our last luggage and I went to the playground with Emily.

At 11:45 the Disney Cruise Line bus picked us and from there everything went fast. We got through security and in no time we embarked on our second Disney Cruise, this ship is even nicer as the Dream (I think).

We didn’t know where to beginning but we since we had some stuff to carry we decided that it would be our state room but, Emily wanted to walk up the gigantic stairs…who did we find at the end of the stairs? Princess Ariel…

The second stop was our stateroom 7682, great choice a bit smaller as last time but the restricted balcony is perfect. After exploring the stateroom we went to “It’s a small world” to register Emily for her time in the club. As soon as we came into the club she started crying, most likely since she recognized it from last time…that promises something for tomorrow. Time for some food as it was 2pm already, we went to Flo’s Cafe for fried chicken and tenders with French frites.

Soon it was time for my beer exchange. What is a beer exchange I hear people think… In short: practically every sailing has a Facebook group page which connects the people booked on that particular cruise, on the group for this cruise lots of people organized a lot of things like recipe, gift, ornament and thus a beer exchange. I participate in the beer exchange which meant every participant brought 6 beers on board which where exchanged in the atrium at 2:45pm and in that way you could drink some unique local beers.

After exchanging the beers we met up in our room again where Emily was about to take her afternoon nap. Unfortunately it took a while before we were able to put her down and she could only sleep 35 minutes before the mandatory safety drill started but better a little bit as not at all…

The drill was quite entertaining as Emily was distracted by almost everything in the nightclub (The Tube) were we had our drill. From there we went to the Sail Away part where we met Danny & family for the first time. Danny is a colleague of mine and we happened to be on the same ship.

After the party we met up with Pluto and Daisy Duck before it was time for dinner. And yes she still loves the characters, I actually think she loves them more as before.

Dinner was amazing, we had a lot of fun with our table guest (Danny & family). Emily went for the fries and chicken tenders, mama had the Salmon Tartar, the chicken breast and as dessert a lemon cheesecake. I got the salmon tartar, the tuna steak and cookies n’ cream ice. Ridiculously delicious!

After dinner we checked the special tree lighting ceremony and then it was bedtime for Emily. The room was already filled with our suitcases and thus it was a bit crowded but Emily went to bed easy, she must have been really tired.

I left the room as soon as Emily was a sleep and went to the Walt a Disney Theater to watch the show. When the show was over I got my picture taken with Mickey before I went to the room and quickly went to bed as I was exhausted.

At 3:15am the alarm clock went off. Way to early but it was for a good cause. Today we were leaving for Orlando and our flight was scheduled to depart from Toronto Pearson International Airport at 8:15am. After packing the last things and putting the suitcases in the car we woke Emily as late as possible at 4am and at 4:15am we left Brooklin. They advise you to be at the airport 3 hours before departure, even for US flights because of the extensive security checks. But all went well and after half an hour we entered the Maple Leaf Lounge to enjoy some breakfast.

Time went by and around 7:30am we arrived at gate F70 where the boarding process already had begun. Because we are still traveling with a small child and stroller we skipped the whole line and were able to board. We had three seats in the middle which was perfect. Emily was listening some Disney music and drawing in her Elena of Avalor colouring book. Push back was at 8:15am as scheduled and it was a smooth flight.

Normally we would rent a car and go to our hotel but this time was going to be different. Our first night in Florida we’re staying at a Disney Resort hotel for the very first time. We didn’t have to pick up our suitcases from baggage claim since Disney would do that for us and deliver them directly to our room at Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter. After walking to the Magical Express desks and waiting in line with an overly tired Emily we got to board the bus and soon we were on our way to the hotel. Emily slept the entire ride.

After check in we went to our room and changed into more appropriate clothes for Florida (t-shirts and shorts). Ow it was lunchtime so we went to the food court to get a bite to eat. As soon as our tummies were full we took the boat to Disney Springs where we walked around and enjoyed the beautiful weather. And after being cooped up in an airplane and bus the only thing Emily wanted to do was walk and stretch her legs.

On our way back from Disney Springs we spend some time in our Resort playing, walking and we had dinner in the food court.

Because it was such a long day for all of us we returned to the room early where we reorganized our suitcases, Emily took a bath and we all went to bed early because tomorrow is going to be another exciting day because we are leaving our hotel to go to the cruise terminal in Port Canaveral to board the Disney Fantasy.