The Disney Wonder Melbourne 9-12 November 2023

 This is going to be long…

Before you go: the day check in opens, check in that moment, so you can get an early boarding time, and if you want an easy character experience, book the princess meet and greet at that time too. We had finished lunch and had some of our bags while people we still boarding.

We had a 12pm boarding time, dropped our bags in a little early, and they called for 12pm at 11.45am and on we went! We turned our phones on airplane mode with wifi enabled, so we could use the navigator app without incurring charges.

We went straight to Cabanas for lunch, lots of seats at that early time. I had read it is hard to get a seat, I imagine as it gets busier and busier, seats are harder to come by. Food was good, lots of variety. We had a look at our daily itinerary and ‘hearted’ the things we wanted to do. What is awesome about that is they alert you so you have time to get to the next thing you want to do.

Room was ready at 1.30pm.

Bags at 1.45, but one of ours did come along hours later, my daughter was so worried because it was her bag. They will be in your room by 6pm.

I wanted the kids to take advantage of the no queue at the water slide, so they did, a lot! Glad we ticked that off while the sun was shining! My son went on 13 times. This was the only time any of us went in the water on the whole cruise. We walked around the ship, played some games in the outdoor game area.

3pm Disney trivia level 1 for level 1, it was tricky, very Mulan heavy 😂 There is a big trust system with the marking of the trivia sheets, and I honestly don’t trust that people don’t cheat. But it was good fun! 

Checked out edge and vibe.

Dinner at Animators Palate, the food was alright, there was a lot of it. My husband is vegan and there was a push to pre order his food, the head waiter expressed that they could make something up for him, but our main server just wanted him to preorder off the menu that already existed. Seemed very strange. He could eat, but it didn’t feel as inclusive as it has been at other Disney experiences. I really enjoyed the starters at all of the restaurants, the mains less so.

The store doesn’t open until we are in international waters, which was 6.30pm on our cruise out of Melbourne. We went in after dinner and it was PACKED! We left, did our FE, some pixie dusting on deck 2, 5 and 7 and headed to the Golden Mickey’s show. We were early (24 mins) and it was almost full! People coming in 15 mins early couldn’t find seats together! There are not enough seats for everyone, make sure you get there early!!! The show was lovely. The crowd talked the whole way through, not really respectful of the performers. My kids thought this was the best show of the 3, my husband and I preferred Frozen.

Day 2 At sea

9am breakfast at Cabanas. There was no seating and you had to queue for a bit to get food. The selection was amazing, really something for everyone, and delicious too! We ate outside, but near the pool as it is under cover, not windy. It worked out better as it was so loud inside. 

Went to the shops, opened at 9.30, way less hectic this morning. The merch is very underwhelming if you are used to Disney merch. We managed to find a couple things, but spent less than half of my budget for merch. 

We went and pixie dusted our whole deck (6). There were waaaaay more FEs than were in our FE gifting spreadsheet. We also received so much Pixie Dust! 

Pixar trivia, these are lots of fun. I doubt we will ever win one, but it’s still good family fun. The thing I loved most about this particular trivia is no one got 20/20 😂

Lunch at Cabanas, it’s hectic. The food is good, lots of variety again, but it’s very busy!

We had the 2pm Frozen show because of the Marvel night time show. We started queuing at 1.20 and there were about 2-300 people in front of us. It’s wild, I knew there would be queues, but I didn’t expect them to be quite as hectic for a show, at this price point. It’s very Disney. Expect queues for everything! Unlike Disneyland, I didn’t queue for the bathrooms at all, so that’s a plus! The show was good, but people were going in and out the whole show, it was very distracting. I am a theatre nerd, so I found the talking and moving throughout the theatre really disrespectful.

Marvel Trivia, damn this was hard! It was also super busy as it was after a craft session. Really hard to get a seat! We ordered the beignets which were DIVINE! The people that won, I don’t think they actually won, our host didn’t think so either. Cheating is massive in these games, everyone wants the medal, but it’s a bit shit. We stayed on for origami, it was excellent! 

Somewhere around here my son lost his phone, someone handed it in to lost and found. So grateful to that person. My son kept going off to Edge at every opportunity, we aren’t even sure where he lost it, he thinks doing the Edge scavenger hunt. But what a relief that it was handed in! No clue how they knew it was ours though! 

Dinner at Tiana’s. This is a party, this was an excellent time. Good food, good vibes! This was our favourite dinner! Also a photo op with Tiana at our table.

The Marvel show, I was so tired, I dragged myself to this because the kids wanted to see it, it was AMAZING. So clever. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and were glad to be there. Bring a jacket! 

Day 3 at sea

Despite the late night, we were up and out by 8am, cabanas was relatively empty, table found easily, no queue. Good food, love the French toast and Mickey waffles!

Straight to the Royal Gathering, photos with the Princesses. By some miracle this free character experience booking had a space when we checked in. We didn’t queue for any other characters because we have hundreds of photos with characters from parks all over the world. I didn’t want to waste my cruise queueing, so we did this, 20 mins start to finish. There was Belle, Cinderella, Ariel and Tiana, all beautiful, making conversation with the kids. Great experience, this is one to book the minute check in opens! Use your own camera or buy their photos, it’s up to you. We only bought one photo.

Chill morning, packing up, a nap because I’m constantly exhausted, so many activities and always somewhere to be. I haven’t lounged, or really read my book at all. Maybe an extra day at sea would bring more time for relax, or maybe we would just do extra activities 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

We ordered room service, I needed to try the choc chip cookie and a Mickey bar, grabbed a key lime pie while ordering.  We tipped $1usd per item in cash, we brought a bunch of singles for this. 

We caught the Jack Jack Diaper Run, where they race crawling babies. This was hilarious! A highlight. 

Lots of walking around, looking for Disney Ducks, checking our photos, grabbed a quick bite from Pete’s Boiler Room. It was these things, the Disney ducks, FE and pixie dusting that was probably the most magical thing, and it’s the amazing Disney humans that bring that magic. I had so many awesome conversations with Big Disney Fans, loved that, you see the best and worst of people in these situations, and those people really brought the joy, big shout out to Tabatha who became a touchstone in the cruise. I love when you keep running into the same Disney humans.

More trivia, Disney tunes. The people that were known to us as cheats were in this one (their son told my son in Edge that they cheated when we played the first trivia). It’s a bit of a downer… They did change the scoring system to swapping with a neighbour instead of an honour system, so that was awesome. We are never going to win, but I want someone to win that really knows the answers. Then the celebrity behind the curtain, this was hilarious!

Learn to draw Groot. Unlike in the parks and at Aulani, this is done off a video. A nice relaxing activity though.

Our final dinner at Tritons. We gave our servers their tips. We felt that our assistant server gave the best experience and felt sad she gets the least tips, so we gave her some extra USD. The appetisers and starters here were the best. I didn’t love the main. Dessert was yum! Tritons is beautiful and fancy, the kids least favourite 😅

Our final show ‘Disney Dreams: An Enchanted Classic’, again, we were there 40 mins before and hundreds of people in front of us. Queue for characters and any experience not clearly included, but it would be good if you could show up 15 mins early and get a seat together. They could benefit from making people sit in the order they enter, that would cut all of the seat saving out too! The show was good, but ten minutes from finishing a kid two seats away from us vomited, we finished the show watching from the back of the theatre. 

And that is us. Bed early, early morning ahead. We got our pre paid gratuities sorted and delivered,  bag tags for the disembarkation morning, feedback form filled out. There were 10.30 fireworks, but we have seen many Disney fireworks, it wasn’t worth not packing our winter jackets for. 

Day 4 disembarkation

Our rotating dining crew really wanted us to go to Tritons, but we went to Cabanas at 6.50am, it was pretty empty. Quick breakfast, chilled in the French Quarter until 8 when our luggage group was called, grabbed luggage, and an Uber, we were home by 8.40am!

Pack warm clothes! Even on warm days, the nights are chilly and there will be something happening at 10.30pm. We packed proper winter jackets for the 10.30pm marvel show, and I’m so glad we did! Bring a spirit jersey or jumper for the chilly evenings, or windy moments on deck through the day. We saw lots of kiddos in their oodies at all hours. 

The bathroom is awesome divided into two, so showering and toileting can happen at the same time to get those mornings moving! The water pressure is awesome. We bought a motion sensor light for on the back of the toilet door, best move! I have heard other people use glow sticks too.

Bring eye masks or a peg to keep your curtains together, ear plugs for the random hall noise and general ship creakiness.

Take that motion sickness medication before you go. We used it at random times and twice my son needed anti nausea tablets. Bring everything from home! I felt the most motion sick in the shows and at dinners.

There isn’t always a clear conversation about added costs, at check in they fitted my son with a wrist band for the children’s kids club without discussing cost or return for refund. I said no, he said yes and she gave it to him. He lost it while at Edge, guest services weren’t very helpful, so we paid for that. When buying merch they offer you a bag, but only tell you is $1USD for a bag maybe half the time. At dinner they will try to sell you an add on for the kids drinks, but no mention of cost, it’s the same as the parks, around $7.50USD, we also tipped this in cash. We paid for beignets at French Quarter, they were so good, worth it! Tipped in cash. 

All in all, it was an awesome experience. I am so pleased we did it! But I don’t think cruising is my thing. I would definitely try out the other Disney ships, but for the wonder, as a family trip, I reckon it’s a one and done. I would prefer to put the $6000 towards a Disney parks trip. I think it’s a great option for people who can’t get to the parks, you have the characters, the magic, the service, some merch, the shows, it’s a taste of the parks. But I would never choose it over a park experience, if it was an either/or situation. 

I really craved downtime. After the parks we all go and chill on the internet in our room. I wasn’t prepared to pay for the internet package x4, so there wasn’t that option. My son LOVED Edge and was there at every opportunity, but my daughter had no interest in Vibe or Edge, so she hung with us, so we couldn’t really take advantage of any of the adult options. I think it would have been really different had both kids enjoyed the kids clubs. I think a longer cruise would be better in the sense that maybe everyone would be less hectic about queuing etc.

The afternoon when we got home my daughter had a temp and got quite sick for the whole week. The rest of us had sea legs through the next days too. Then I caught my daughter’s bug and had the whole week off work. Lots of people in our sailing group got covid/gastro or whatever this is. Take your own hand sanitiser, unlike the parks they only have it out before meals. 

Disneyland 2023

 It’s been a long time between visits, covid, plus obligations for travel last year. We hadn’t been since 2019! This is our fourth trip to Disneyland, we have been to all of the Disney Parks in the world except WDW. So this isn’t going to be a trip report, but a series of tips and observations.

Cast compliments, this is located in the app. If any cast member makes your day more special, please give them a shout out  in the app. You will need to remember their name, the character they like bests name (under their name), where you saw them (it’s not too specific, like shops on Main Street, attractions at Frontierland) and what day it was. Those cast mates are GOLD! I always do it when we exit wherever we saw them, so I don’t forget.

Anywhere from 5-30 mins lightning lane for haunted mansion overlay - it is long, like I have never seen it before! Get in early, the queue stays long, but they have done such a great job of it, way better than Tokyo, and I love everything about Tokyo!

Always ask for a cup of water with your meal, it’s free, and usually has ice! Remember to bring a water bottle, you can fill it up at one of the many water fountains in the parks, my husband did this, I did not. Drinks add up! 

If you have Genie + stop and get in park photos whenever the queue isn’t too long, always ask if there is a magic shot! Take a pic of any photos from attractions you ride as you can add those in for free too!

World of Color is magic, but you want priority viewing. Ideally, get a world of colour cancellable dining option, try and join the virtual queue at midday, if you get a spot, cancel the dinner. It sounds rough, but why pay $70 for dinner when you might be able to get it for free. One of my mates said the second showing is very quiet compared to the first, so there is that option too! 

Mobile order is super inconsistent, one day we get a slot in half hour, the next 3 hours, the later it is, they just seem to be chasing their takes. We booked lucky fortune cookery and waited 40 mins from ‘I’m here’ to eating. It’s hard to predict, but always worth organising early, so you don’t end up hangry!

Shadow Box Pin trading at 20th Century Music and at Tomorrowland. All of the general pin boards are full of trashy scrappers. Pin trading is fun, but it’s hard when there is no regulation on the pins being traded. Shadow board trading evens that out, go to the location and read the rules, it’s the first time we have enjoyed trading in the US in years. Paris does this better, it’s fully regulated there.

Lots of the new attractions have long times between queue and action, it’s a lot of waiting and a significant chunk of your time. You have your quick attractions, like incredicoaster, but you also have these loooong, almost 20 minute attractions like Rise of the Resistance (I had no idea, we almost missed our Ogas Cantina booking), or Webslingers.

If you didn’t get a booking for Ogas Cantina or lamplight lounge, get close to the eatery and try the walk up list. If it sold out, keep trying! Ours said it was full and 2 seconds later it accepted us. Ogas is a sensory nightmare but I am so glad we saw it with our own eyes! 

Big Thunder Mountain is one of my favourites, but Paris spoiled it for me. It felt like no thrill that first time, always ask for the back carriage, and if you can, do that at night. 

Not enough shade, at eateries, at the shows, the sun can be relentless, they have clearly planned to do shows in areas that have zero shade, it feels almost cruel. Is it worse in DCA, it feels like it. I was watching the Dora Milaje and there was no shade, every time I found some, I was moved on. There are mostly kids in that audience, it’s rough! 

Genie + and other changes, feels like  the magic is slowly being drained from the parks. I really felt this, my husband and I spoke about it, he agreed. We spoke with long term annual pass holders who agree. I can see what they are trying to do here, and from a business model it might work. But as a park goer, I felt I had to look at my phone way too much. That’s not Disney time for me. It really upsets me that you can only use genie+ to ride each offered attraction once. I only enjoy a few of the attractions offered. It felt like a bit of a bust. Ours was bundled in, so I don’t feel like I lost anything, but if I paid $25 or $30 on the day, without researching the offerings, I would be sad.

We hadn’t been since 2019, so much has changed in every way! Obsessed with Mickeys Runaway Railway and Rise of the Resistance, I LOVE trackless attractions, rode these a lot!

There are premium attractions that will attract a seperate fee if you want a lightning lane pass, Rise, Runaway Railway, Radiator Springs. You can get single rider on Radiator Springs, if you get in Disneyland early go straight to Runaway Railway and it will be a 10-15 minute wait! I have no tips for rise, at opening it was 45 mins, maybe dash there once you have done runaway, it did seem to go a little bit up and down, so keep checking. Alternatively if you have tiny humans, you can smash out almost all of fantasyland (give or take Peter Pan) in that first hour or two).

Try and use single rider or the Buddy Pass at Monsters Inc (this is for parties of 1 or 2) to cut down wait times. This is even shorter than the lightning lane when it’s long! 

Loungefly bags are a thing! If you are someone who wear ears, looking for a loungefly mini backpack for the parks, the best ones have a pocket with straps at the front for your ears. You are taking your ears and sunglasses off for many of the attractions, having somewhere safe to put them is way better than stuffing them in and out of a regular loungefly mini backpack, I have three and absolutely prefer the one with a spot for the ears. Sadly it’s a Halloween backpack so I can only use it in September and October. 

 

We had a wonderful time, saw some wonderful additions to the parks. But also changes we didn’t enjoy. We went to Vegas, then LA and finished at Disneyland. Great child free trip! 

Disney Aulani July 2023

 Disney Aulani

We truly love this place. But it is seriously overpriced. I wouldn’t choose it over a Disney park, but  I would choose it with the kids every time we are in Hawaii.

Check in is not until 4pm. We showed up at 10am, checked our stuff in, got our wristbands and towels and had a glorious pool day! I do really miss the leis and Kakui nut necklaces, and the cute little drink they used to greet you with, but covid 🤷🏻‍♀️ The kids loved the water slide, we all love the lazy river. We got our refillable cups ($22US with free refills) and popcorn bucket ($11US with $3 refills) straight away to get max benefit from them.

Room was ready at 2pm, we got a 1 bedroom suite through David’s DVC rentals, it is lovely. Fluffiest towels, beautiful H20 toiletries, the sofa bed is THE MOST COMFORTABLE SOFA BED! It’s made exclusively for Disney. Because we were there for the 4th of July, we ended up having to get a room with a view, all of the cheaper rooms were gone the minute they were released.

The food here is wild. You can get extras and actual meals at the Ko’Olina shops, the abc/island shop is the best! The food budget on site would be three times what we spend on Waikiki, it’s worth having a few things on site and getting a few things offsite. There is a lot of food that we don’t/can’t eat, lots of fried options. Quick service and restaurants, with okay options, but the cost is wild. I did budget for this, but it’s a reminder that you should too.

Thingamabobs - A Mermaid's Tale

Book early! This is a cute and free activity, I’m not going to say too much about it, but highly recommend! The cast members were loads of fun. It’s a half hour activity, it doesn’t run on island time so do not be late. Meeting place is at the very left of the lagoon, where the boat is. My other tip is to book an early session, we did 9am and the sun was already blazing hot.

Makahiki - The Bounty of the Islands 

Monday Character Breakfast 

You basically need to book this within an hour of release, it goes that quick! It isn’t a buffet anymore, it’s  pastries and fruit then your own main. Our kids are over the ‘Keiki menu - 9 and under’ but mace ordered off that menu and we were charged at the kids price for his meal. Marley swapped out the Belgian waffles for the Mickey and Minnie waffles. There are always options. I loved the French Toast, but it was a MASSIVE serve. We took the pastries to go, and had them for lunch.

We met Mickey (you can pay for these photos, but they aren’t included in photo pass), they will take pics on your phone for you too. We purchased the pics, they were very cute. Around $35USD, you can download them off the photo pass app.

Family Animation 

Another free one that fills up. Much like an Art of Animation session in the parks, you will be guided in drawing a Disney character. We got Daisy Duck. The cast member was fantastic. An excellent experience always! 

You can watch prerecorded ones in your room too! 

They did change the venue on the day, so keep an eye on the app.

Character meets

We love a character meet, these are free and rotate all day in the resort. The characters and their handlers are always great. They will take photos for Photopass, they will also take pictures using your phone too. 

Fire pit story

If you are up, go in the evening so the fire has the desired effect. I think these are every second day, make sure you go if you can! It’s a 20-30 minute story. You can watch prerecorded ones in your room too. 

4th July fireworks DO NOT HAPPEN ANYMORE! Wild. Generally I would highly recommend not going on a day with a public holiday. It was full, hectic and crowds bring out arseholes.

The Aulani Players Present Moana

This was awesome,a 30 minute retelling of the story of Moana. We loved this, very funny and a little interactive.

Pin trading

2-3pm lava shack pool

3-4pm lobby main store

There are queues for these, the best pins go first. Since covid, they make you put your pin in a tub, and you take one off the board. If you are further down the queue, it’s just scrappers.

Snorkelling 

We didn’t do it this time, we did last time, and the family loved it. You can pay for a one off or a flat fee for the duration of your stay. Worth checking out if that’s your vibe.

Hawaii June 2023

 Jetstar were  AMAZING! You read that right! They were so good with disability, they let us check in at the business class check in. Gave us passes to get through security. Pre boarding too. It was a truly wonderful experience, exact opposite from the last time we travelled through melbourne airport (international). Flight was fine. Can’t complain!

We stayed at the Embassy Suites Waikiki

Room 228 Hula Tower

Easy check in. Though having a 6am arrival, I paid for the previous night so we could all shower and rest on arrival. It was a good move, except they marked us as a no show, even though we had been communicating about this for days previously, apparently because it was through  3rd party (booking.com), it wasn’t noted, easy fix though.

Room clean and comfortable, we got the 1 bedroom suite, enough room for all of us, but the sofa bed was not great.

Free buffet breakfast including eggs cooked to order. But it’s absolute chaos! Good good though, very happy. 

Pool is family friendly, not deep, which is nice as a mum, watching from the side. Lots of lounges.

Opposite end to diamond head, close to the action but not in the middle of it, the beach isn’t as good (or busy) as the middle of Waikiki. Very reefy.

‘Reception’ is lovely, staff are friendly and helpful.

You can see the Aloha Friday fireworks from the end of the grand lanai, better off going to the beach for a good view, but this was fine. Was nice to have a couple of free cocktails (plus tip) with the fireworks though! 

The staff are amazing, everyone so friendly.

Aloha Friday Fireworks

These happen either 7.45pm or 8pm (depending on the time of year) every Friday night. Best spot to view them is in front of the Outrigger on the Beach, go early for a good spot. It’s a 5 minute show, a cute activity after  dinner.

Dukes 

This is the part of beach that we hang out in, my folks stay at Outrigger on the Beach, my step dad gets up early and reserves us lounges on the beach (be there by 7) for our beach days ($150aud for 2 lounges for a day).

We eat lunch and hula pie here. The menu is okay, the staff are brilliant, really make it feel like our second home.

Ala Moana shopping mall

Ala Moana has everything, make sure you check prices on things you want vs Aus prices, with the dollar as it is, it’s not always the best deal. So many things to see and buy! 

Kualoa Ranch

This is brilliant! They have a range of tours, all with the option of pick up and drop off. We did the movie tour in the bus, Ursula, our tour guide was excellent. Absolutely loved our tour. So much information, about the ranch, about the island and about the movies that have shot there. You could do any of the tours and be happy! 

Diamond head state monument 

You have to book this in advance! Don’t just show up! It’s $5pp. 

We were told it’s a 90 minute return trip, we did it in under 50 mins with water and photo breaks.

It’s beautiful, a real treasure, hard on the joints with the uneven ground. There is a tunnel, not too long, at the end GO LEFT! It’s shorter and gets you to the same spot, we did not do this 🤣

Leonard’s bakery

These are ‘the best donuts on the island’ made fresh, hot in your hands.

I thought I timed this super well, we arrived after our hike, at 8.40, short queue, all good. But a 15 minute wait from the time we ordered. Waiting for our Uber, the queue for the bakery is around the corner. So early, go early folks! 

Kuhio Beach Hula Show

Tuesdays and Saturdays at 6.30pm, get there early to get a seat. We haven’t done this since our first trip, 9 years ago! We decided  not to do a luau this time (highly recommend if you haven’t done one before), this is a nice luau light moment. Very enjoyable.

https://kbhulashow.wixsite.com/official

Aloha Friday fireworks

Hawaii23

We have used them for transfers for years! They are ALWAYS well early, I have never had a problem with them, and so we stay loyal. On a transfer day, with 4-6 people, I don’t want to be worrying about rideshare apps etc.