Disney Cruise Line
Disney Cruise Line Trip Report
December 1999 - Disney Wonder
Millennium Cruise
Introduction
Annie (my wife) and I had all but given up hope of sailing on a Disney Cruise Line ship for the Millennium. We considered visiting Walt Disney World for New Year's Eve, but we wanted to avoid the crush of people certain to be there, and we were somewhat concerned that some maniac would try to make a statement on New Year's Eve in a crowded place such as Walt Disney World. We searched high and low for an opening on the Disney Cruise Line but could find nothing, when suddenly we heard a rumor of a travel agency in the Boston area booking Millennium Cruises on the Disney Cruise Line. The agency, Cruise Vacation Outlet (then Five Star Cruises), had placed an ad in some newspapers and the rumor quickly spread like wildfire on the Internet. Unfortunately, by the time we heard the rumor, the deadline was two days passed. But, undaunted, I phoned the agency and spoke with Bill Walsh, who informed me that, yes, indeed, he still had some spots left. Furthermore, we could book a stateroom with verandah, which is exactly the stateroom we wanted on the ship, and although we could not book a room at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, we could book a room at Disney's Contemporary Resort (just as good!). The price was astronomical, but for a trip of a lifetime, price really wasn't a concern. We booked the trip. Bill also helped us get plane tickets and we decided to purchase the Disney Cruise Line bus transfers, although this was something we would later regret.
Working in information technology I was somewhat concerned I would not get the Millennium off because of the Y2K bug, but I'd been planning for this trip for a very long time, and I booked it long before the corporation made any declaration regarding time off during the Y2K rollover. The trip was non-refundable and I would go, no matter what.
After hearing nightmare stories of people waiting hours at the Orlando airport to be picked up by a Disney Cruise Line bus, we decided to cancel our bus transfers and reserve towncar service from Tiffany Towncar, instead. A towncar is somewhat like a limousine, and the price was roughly double the cost of the bus transfers. It should be noted that we have yet to receive a refund for our bus transfers, although we've heard on many occasions that Disney Cruise Line is very slow in refunding this money.
We booked the trip in April. Now, all we had to do was wait. The wait was nerve-wracking, made even worse because of the uncertainly regarding my job. Finally, in November I learned that I would be able to go on the trip without any trouble at work.
Also in November we heard that the information packages for the Millennium Cruise on the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder were being sent out, and the packages included documentation on renting a tuxedo for New Year's Eve from Mitchell's Formal Wear. But the deadline for renting the tuxedo was fast approaching and we didn't have our documentation yet. I contacted Bill Walsh who faxed me a copy of the form. I filled it out and submitted on the last day before the deadline. Shortly thereafter, our complete documentation package arrived.
We had sailed with the Disney Cruise Line before, on the 7th sailing of the Disney Magic, and we were pleased to discover that the documentation for this sailing was much more organized and informative.
We were somewhat worried, though, that there was very little mention about New Year's Eve. No one we spoke to seemed to know what would be happening on New Year's Eve on the ships, and the rumors we heard kept on changing. We wondered if any plans were really in place.
In December we checked with the airline regarding out plane reservations. Originally, we were flying out of Montreal and stopping off in Toronto. In Toronto we would have about 90 minutes to disembark, get our luggage, go through U.S. customs, and board our connecting flight. We thought this would not be enough time. As it turns out, this was not a concern. The airline changed our flight assignment so that there would be no stopover. We would be flying directly to Orlando. This also meant that our flight would be leaving at a later hour, meaning that we wouldn't have to get up at 5am to go to the airplane.
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