MAGICal Christmas 2008 - December 20, 2008 [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

alikat99

01-31-2007, 09:56 AM

Yes, I know it's early, but it was booking day today and I just had to start the thread.

We have plenty of time to prepare for Christmas 2008!!!

Cruising for us will be myself, DH, DD (7) and DD (4), and we'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary!!!

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Cruising families:
alikat99 - Amy, Chris, Emily (7), Madison (4)
Diana Lyn - Diana, Bruce, Emma (5), Julia (4)
nzdisneymom - Cindy, Gary, Nathan (12), Zachary (11)
psharrock - Paul, Rachel, Ben (10), Katie (8, turning 9)
DisneyZell - Drew, Deanna, Nick (10), Connor (6)
& Neighbors - Mike, Kim, Chris (12), Kathryn (8)
SnowWhite2 - Laurie, DD (14), DD (12)
njmom23grls - Lisa, Mark, Emily (14), Rachael (10), Sandy (60+)
ShannonR - Shannon, Rick, Morgan (14), Mitchell (11), Melissa (3)
Kborn - Keith, Tina, Josh (8)
tinkerbell 29 - Lissa, Nancy, Matthew
MrsMunchie - Shirley, Justin, Joseph (10), Audrey (8)
Lynne Y. - Lynne, DH, Justin
stillwater - Becky, John, Anna (13), Alexander (13)
minnie1 - Angie, Pete, Ashley (10), Madison (7)
pogopossum - Phil, Sherrie, Rachel (14), Jordan (7), DGP, DSGM, DSM
Love Eeyore - Joyce, Jim, Jesse (16), Tyler (13)
SnowWhite2 - Laurie, DD (13), DD (11)
xsjackson - Susan, DH, Alexis (18), Nick (16)
----------Jim (74)
----------Ginny, Matt (12), Emma (10), Natalie (8), Nolan (6)
----------Nancy, Zane (15)
----------Katie & Kevin, Lydia (7), Asha (5)
Az Pirates - Kerry & Sheila, DD(21), DD(18), DS(13), DD(10)
dee47 - Dee, Keith (12)
BearFan - Lisa Maria, Paul
hinsok1 - Kim, Brad, Kat (12), Matt (7, but turning 8 on the cruise!)
----------Bob, Char
----------Jan, Craig, Sarah (21), Erick (20), Paul (14)
----------Doug, Heather, Nathaniel (14), Benjamin (13), Jerimiah (11), Hannah (9)
perdy1234 - Mel & Curt
tinksmom - Joe (52), Tenya (48), and Carly (15)
PalatkaCruisers - Rick, Laura and Jessica (9)
KathyFP - Kathy (?), Greg and Marissa (10)
bigedwin - Ed, Michelle, David (13), Sophia (10)
DCLInauguralXmas - Denise, DH, DS (18), DD (16), twin DSs (10)
dbxazd - Robin, Ed, Ryan (8), Meghan (6)
gardengirlco - Jennifer, Mark, Kevyn (10) and Sam (3)

Celebrations:
Birthdays:
Diana Lyn - Diana's birthday (12/25)
ShannonR - Shannon's birthday (12/14)
MrsMunchie - DH Justin's birthday (12/20)
minnie1 - Angie's birthday (12/11)
minnie1 - DD Madison's birthday (12/29)
DisneyZell - Deanna's birthday (12/29)
pogopossum - Phil's birthday (12/2)
hinsok1 - Matt's birthday (12/24)
tinkerbell 29 - Nancy's birthday (12/17)
psharrock - Katie's birthday (12/25)

Anniversaries:
alikat99 - Chris & Amy's 10th anniversary (12/19)
hinsok1 - Bob & Char's 50th anniversary

Scheduled Activities or Meets
12/20 - 3 pm - DISmeet in the Promenade Lounge on Deck 3 - headed by nzdisneymom
12/22 - 9:30 am - Group Photo/Scavenger hunt/Ornament Exchange meet in the Promenade Lounge - headed by BearFan

ATTENTION CHRISTMAS CRUISERS!!!
Did that get your attention? GOOD!! I'm very proud to announce the opening of our Cafepress shop!!

Just a few disclaimers:
I have it set to make ZERO profit. I'm not making anything from this.

I'm just the shop keeper. You order directly from Cafepress. You pay Cafepress directly. They ship directly to you. If you have a problem with your order you take it up with them. (And from previous cruises, their customer service is awesome.)

I've added just about everything that is available to "basic" shops aka free shops. Our design doesn't work for the dark shirts, so I didn't add those item. Whatever shirts come in both Gray and White, I have left that as an option for you. The Ringer Shirts and Baseball shirts come with a red trim option that looks really cute with our design.

Some shirts have one logo in the front, some have little pocket logo and big back logo. I tried to make something to make everyone happy. If you want something tweaked, I can try to do whatever I can to please the group.

I think that's it---happy shopping!!!

Any questions or problems---just let me know!

It would be helpful if I included the link!! http://www.cafepress.com/christmascruise

Diana Lyn

01-31-2007, 09:59 AM

Well if you're cruising, you know I'm gonna join you!

It will be me, DH, and DDs 5 and 4.

We'll be celebrating my birthday on Christmas!!

cgcw

01-31-2007, 10:00 AM

:wave:

We're in!! :cool1:

Me, DH, DS14 & DS8

We've sailed twice now with Amy & her family & Diana & her family!!!

We are going to have a blast!!!!! :dance3:

We're celebrating friends & Christmas!!!!

cgcw

01-31-2007, 06:31 PM

Did anyone else book today? :dance3: :dance3:

nzdisneymom

02-01-2007, 12:53 PM

We were going to do a 3-night this December, but when I saw this thread yesterday, of course I went to explore and we decided to postpone a year so we can go for a week instead of barely getting on the ship before it's time to get off.

We did Costa Maya in Dec. 2005 and were not excited about it - we had wanted to go to Cozumel. But I think things have improved in Costa Maya (at least more is known now than when we sailed before) and this time we can do Cozumel, too, and what sold DH is the double-dip at Castaway Cay! And also we'll be on board for Christmas day!!!

Oh - it will be me (I'll be 44), DH (he'll be 52) and our two boys who will be 12 and 11 at the time (yikes!!!! seems like they shouldn't be that old). I'm looking forward to getting to know y'all over the next 22+ months.

alikat99

02-01-2007, 01:04 PM

Welcome to the group, Cindy!!! I think that you made the perfect choice to cruise for a week at Christmas. We look forward to getting to know everyone as they join our happy group.

Cindy (cgcw), Diana and I have cruised together twice now on the past couple of DVC member cruises and have become great friends. My DH and I are tossing around a vow renewal for our 10th anniversary onboard (Dec 19th is our anniversary). And, Diana's birthday is Chrismas day, so we're looking forward to celebrating that as well.

Cindy has 2 boys as well, and Cameron will be 14 at the time that we cruise, so I'm sure that your boys will fit right in with the group.

So, to you, and anyone else that joins the thread, please don't feel intimidated by our previous friendship and chatter, and just jump right in. The 3 of us are actually somewhat shy, but have gotten to know each other by these DISmeets threads, so we want to get to know you too!!!

Ok, I've "talked" WAY too much, so before I overwhelm you any more than I already have, Welcome to the group!!!

cgcw

02-01-2007, 02:23 PM

:welcome: Cindy

Amy covered it pretty well. I look forward to getting to know you over the next almost 2 years! :cheer2:

nzdisneymom

02-01-2007, 03:09 PM

Thanks for the welcome! :wave2:

We're DVC owners, too -- we own at Saratoga Springs - and part of what convinced DH to buy into DVC was that we can use our points towards cruises :) Although somehow I keep managing to spend them on WDW stays (LOL). We live in North FL so we're an easy drive :drive: to the WORLD for whenever we have a spare couple of days.

We did our one and only DCL cruise in Dec. 2005 - the week before Christmas, so we got to experience the holiday celebrations / decorations (we got back on Dec. 24th). We're still talking about that trip over a year later! My pc background is a sunset picture from the ship leaving from Castaway Cay.

We're have a Cat. 6 booked for the Dec. 2008 trip.

Oh, and to distinguish us two Cindy's -- just refer to me as Cindy D.

alikat99

02-01-2007, 03:43 PM

Hey Cindy D, we're in FL too. We're on the other coast from Pt. Canaveral, so we're also a quick trip to WDW. It's about 1.5 hrs to WDW, and 2.5 hrs to Pt. Canaveral. We usually make a stop at WDW for the night before our cruises, then just head over to the port in the morning.

cgcw

02-01-2007, 10:32 PM

ugh, oh, it looks like I might be outnumbered by FL residents if we don't have any more people join this thread. :sad1: Cindy D & Amy are already there and I hear that Diana is thinking about moving south too. We're stuck in cold and boring IL. No Disney World in our back door. :sad2:

But.....we're heading out bright and early in the morning to meet some friends we met on our last two cruises at Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, OH. :drive: If I count correctly, there should be 23 people total from IL, NY, MI, OH & TX. It's going to be fun and something we have been looking forward to for a long time. Amy, I wish you could join us, but another time for sure. Hey, how about Christmas, 2008. :idea: Cindy D, want to join us? :) We're a friendly group!!

Have a great weekend, everyone! ::yes::

nzdisneymom

02-02-2007, 07:46 AM

We found out our cabin # this morning ~ 6570. We've requested main seating for dinner. We aren't going to tell the boys about this trip for a while. I'd love to surprise them.

cgcw

02-05-2007, 06:34 AM

We found out our cabin # this morning ~ 6570. We've requested main seating for dinner. We aren't going to tell the boys about this trip for a while. I'd love to surprise them.

I actually kind of mentioned the idea to our 12 year old and he said he'd rather stay home at Christmas. :eek:

I was thinking along the same lines as you, Cindy D, in that maybe I would formally announce the idea next Christmas. We're cruising this year Thanksgiving to some of the same ports, so hopefully he'll be anxious to go back. If that doesn't work, I'll have to pull out my ace card and tell him that Amy's husband is cruising too. That will change his mind in an instant as he thinks Chris is the coolest guy!

alikat99

02-05-2007, 06:50 AM

I actually kind of mentioned the idea to our 12 year old and he said he'd rather stay home at Christmas. :eek:

I was thinking along the same lines as you, Cindy D, in that maybe I would formally announce the idea next Christmas. We're cruising this year Thanksgiving to some of the same ports, so hopefully he'll be anxious to go back. If that doesn't work, I'll have to pull out my ace card and tell him that Amy's husband is cruising too. That will change his mind in an instant as he thinks Chris is the coolest guy!
There ya go, Cindy! And, if you get that cabin switch, then he'll be right next to Chris. :banana: I've mentioned it to my mom and my sister, but they're in Norfolk, so I probably wouldn't have seen them at Christmas anyway. But, I haven't told my MIL and my BIL and I'm sure that they will be a tad disappointed that we won't be home for Christmas. But, I figure that we'll just have Christmas when we get home from the cruise (since Santa will just leave his presents at our house while we're on the cruise anyway :santa: ).

nzdisneymom

02-05-2007, 08:10 AM

We had not told the boys about cruising this December - which works out well since we've changed it to NEXT December :) They are all about Disney Disney Disney (yep, I've got them brainwashed) and I expect that they'll still be all about Disney still. Right now I have us on a tight budget for our Med. cruise this summer which is all about the ports and not about the ship -- so it will be nice to have another cruise to look forward to that will be more about the ship (and that double-dip at Castaway Cay!!!!)

We've always traveled at Christmas - it's rare for us to actually be home during the school break. Or if we're home, we're in and right back out. And we usually know a year ahead what we'll be doing the following year -- but now that we changed our plans, I don't know what we'll do for Dec. 2007. :scared1: Oh well, I have plenty of time to figure that out :)

cgcw

02-05-2007, 10:37 AM

Yippee, yahoo!!! :banana: :banana: :banana: We were able to change over to a SPH cabin this morning! As my DH said, a little bit of sunlight to brighten our days!! :dance3:

cgcw

02-08-2007, 12:42 PM

It looks like we're going to have the ship to ourselves. We can't be the only 4 families booked. :(

Is anyone else going to join us??? :dance3:

nzdisneymom

02-08-2007, 01:10 PM

We got the 2007-2008 school calendar this week - the kids' last day is Dec. 21st which means it's a good thing we changed from this Dec. to next Dec. to cruise because we would've had the age-old debate about taking the kids out or not... I wouldn't care about my younger DS as he'll be in 4th grade, but my older one starts middle school in August and I dont' know how middle school works about that. Anyway, it does make me hopeful that they'll get out on the 19th next year so that we'll get out of school and drive to the Port, spend the night and sail the next day!

psharrock

02-10-2007, 10:43 AM

nzdisneymom

02-10-2007, 11:36 AM

Paul - welcome! This thread is just getting started but I think we're all excited about getting to know each other over the next year.

cgcw

02-10-2007, 11:49 AM

Hi All :wave:

Me, DW, DS 10, DD 8-9

We booked on the first day, but only just found this thread. We did our 1st cruise in Dec 06, and loved every minute of it.

It will be DD 9th birthday on board which will be great

Paul

Hi Paul!! :welcome:

Cindy D is right in that we are just starting to get our feet wet in this thread but it will give us time to get to know each other before we cruise. :woohoo:

alikat99

02-10-2007, 12:34 PM

Welcome to the group, Paul and family!!! This is going to be great to get to know each other over the next 1.5 yrs and to plan some great little Christmas things.

princessdaisy

02-10-2007, 07:48 PM

Hello everyone:yay:

Add our family from :sunny: San Diego! I just booked us for this cruise today. We sailed Dec. 07 and had a great time! I must be crazy cause I also have May 08 booked since the Magic will be only 2 hours away from me:thumbsup2 but that cruise is only me, ds (6 at the time), my Sister, my Nephew and they have NEVER sailed Disney.

This will be my 6th time on Magic:banana:

Billinaz

02-10-2007, 09:46 PM

We are booked for this Alternate Western, and would like to get the kids friends to email before they cruise. Ive done it before and thus way they have instant friends for the club!

I monitor all email, let me know if you're interested.

There are 2 girls 13 y/o and 9 y/o and a boy who will be 11 y/o.

psharrock

02-11-2007, 03:19 AM

Thanks for the big welcome.

A little bit more about us.

Obviously we are from the UK, Bolton is 15 miles north of Manchester (200 miles north of London) but have made Florida our second home.
We became DVC members in 2002 and own at Beach Club, and have spent many great vacations there. Last summer we fulfilled one of our dreams and bought a villa close to Disney.
We try and get the Orlando 2 times a year, usually Summer and Christmas.

On our 4 night disney cruise last year, we seemed to be the only UK family on it, we were disappointed with Pirate night as very very few families dressed up. We stood out big time :( . All we got all night was 'Look at that family they are dressed as pirates' :mad:

Paul

cgcw

02-11-2007, 07:19 AM

Diana Lyn

02-11-2007, 07:25 AM

:welcome: princessdaisy and Paul!

We're also DVC owners at the Beach Club since 2002, and I'm trying to convince DH into an add on at VAKL. :idea: This will be my first cruise on the Magic, but we've done 4 cruises on the Wonder, 3 being the DVC Member Cruises.

As for pirate night, we've dressed up the last two cruises, and I doubt my girls would let me get away with not dressing up for this cruise. pirate: Right now they are 2 and 3 and have this crazy thing for pirates! :rotfl2:

cgcw

02-11-2007, 07:39 AM

On our 4 night disney cruise last year, we seemed to be the only UK family on it, we were disappointed with Pirate night as very very few families dressed up. We stood out big time :( . All we got all night was 'Look at that family they are dressed as pirates' :mad:

Paul, you won't be out of place this cruise on pirate night. I know for certain that Amy & her family, Diana & her family and my family will be dressing up. We all sailed together the past two Octobers on the DVC Member Cruise and there were many people dressed as pirates!

One of the people in our group arranged for a group picture to be done on Pirate Night of our DIS group. Here we are pirate: pirate: pirate: pirate:

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f341/cgcwdvc/konik_scan-pirate-group.jpg

alikat99

02-11-2007, 08:20 AM

Welcome to the group, Paul!!! Cindy's right, you most definitely will NOT be the only one dressed as pirates!!! That's one of our favorites nights on DCL!!! I think that part of it is that the 4-night cruises aren't filled with as many DISers (who are usually the ones that enjoy dressing up).

DisneyZell

02-13-2007, 07:43 AM

Glad you started this thread! We have 2 boys who will be 10 & 6 at cruise time. We are so glad they are doing the double dip...we just love Castaway Cay. This will be our 3rd Disney Cruise...we went in Oct. 04 and Oct. 06. Our friends are coming along and their son will be 11 and their daughter will be 8. We have connecting staterooms, cat. 6. We can't wait!

cgcw

02-14-2007, 06:21 AM

:love: :love: :love: :love: Happy Valentines Day :love: :love: :love: :love:

nzdisneymom

02-14-2007, 09:58 AM

Welcome Princessdaisy.

Count us among the Pirate-costumed guests - at least the boys and I dressed up in Dec. 05. DH didn't, but he was a great sport in the dining room about it with the bandana on his head!

alikat99

02-21-2007, 02:10 PM

Hi Christmas Cruisers!!! How is everyone doing? Any more DISers joining us yet???

nzdisneymom

03-09-2007, 10:50 AM

Here's the nice thing about having a cruise planned so far out -- I'll always have something for my sig line :)

cgcw

03-10-2007, 06:31 PM

With spring on the horizon, we are going to be so busy, it's not even funny. Both of our kids are involved in not only Cub/Boy Scouts, but they both will begin playing sports in the next couple of weeks. Life will be incredibily busy -- but I wouldn't change it for the world.

We had a beautiful spring day here today -- in the 50's. Tomorrow is suppose to be even nicer. Most of our snow has melted, it's nice to see the grass and the bulbs starting to really peek out. I wonder how they survive but nature sure knows what it's doing.

Don't forget to change those clocks tonight or everyone will be an hour late tomorrow. :headache:

DisneyZell

03-20-2007, 12:35 PM

HI all! We are booked too...we booked the first day. I thought DW had posted...but maybe there are two posts going? :confused3

anyway, we are fired up!!

Here is our cast of Characters:

Me! - Drew
DW - Deanna
DS8 (will be 10 when we go) - Nick
DS4 (Will be 6 when we go) - Connor

we will also have our neighbors:
DNH (Disney Neighbor Husband) - Mike
DNW - Kim
DS10 (will be 12) - Chris
DD6 (Will be 8, but she might be 7, so she might be 9...I just don't know!) - Kathryn

We are from New Hampshire, have been on the Magic twice (third time is a charm!). We are psyched to double dip too...can't beat that. I look forward to meeting all of you!

cgcw

03-20-2007, 12:47 PM

:welcome: Drew & family!!!! :welcome:

alikat99

03-20-2007, 01:21 PM

Welcome to the group, Drew & family!!! I'm sure that we'll have a lot of fun at Christmas on the Magic!!!:banana:

nzdisneymom

03-20-2007, 08:17 PM

Drew and family - welcome! Glad you found this thread. We have two boys - one will be 12 1/2 and the other will be 11 when we go. I can't quite grasp that as I'm sitting here watching my 10 yr old and 9 yr old playing (ok, 10 3/4 and 9 1/2, but whose counting months?).

Anyway, looking fwd to getting to know y'all while we count down the months!

I was talking to a CM today at EPCOT while my kids were pin-trading with him for a Castaway Cay pin and I remarked that I'll miss going to Castaway Cay when we take our Med. cruise this summer - so the double-dip next December will make up for it! That will also be our 3rd time aboard the Magic.

cgcw

03-21-2007, 06:31 AM

I was talking to a CM today at EPCOT while my kids were pin-trading with him for a Castaway Cay pin and I remarked that I'll miss going to Castaway Cay when we take our Med. cruise this summer - so the double-dip next December will make up for it! That will also be our 3rd time aboard the Magic.

You Florida people sure like to rub it in, don't you??? ;)

I was just thinking, chances are that I won't be back to WDW for some time. :( I had thought of taking my youngest down in the summer, but with soccer and camping, I'm beginning to wonder if it will actually come to be. Maybe in the fall my older son and I will make a long weekend trip.

We're off for our spring break next week to Disney's Hilton Head Island resort. Some friends from our last cruise are going to meet us at the end of the week. It's going to be great to see them and I know it's going to be a lot of fun. :dance3: I can't wait for my kids to show them a totally different Hilton Head experience. Hmmmm, I wonder if they bike ride? I best find out.

We have a summer week planned to spend with friends at Cedar Point in Ohio. Another group from our last cruise. Watch out, see what happens on these cruise meet threads? You meet friends who becomd more than acquantances over the DIS boards. Several of us have said that we could remove the DIS from our lives and still be lifelong friends. It's the neatest thing! :cheer2:

Thanksgiving we are cruising RCL and we'll be flying down just for the cruise. :sail: Guess what, with friends again from our last cruise. :rotfl2:

Believe it or not, we do have friends besides our cruise friends, although it doesn't sound like it looking at our vacation plans. The thing is, our friends from home, chances are we'd never plan a vacation with them. It's so nice to spend vacation time with friends who you don't see as often, it truly makes it such a special time.

How am I going to survive without a WDW fix? :scared:

Diana Lyn

03-21-2007, 06:52 AM

How am I going to survive without a WDW fix? :scared:

We'll have to plan another girl's trip! :cool1:

Welcome Drew and Family and Friends! :welcome:

I'm Diana, my DH is Bruce, we have two little girls Emma (now 3 1/2 will be 5 when we cruise :scared: ) and Julia (now 2 1/2 will be 4 when we cruise :faint: )

Currently we live in upstate NY where is is right now 10 degrees, but we're planning on moving to either the Tampa or Bradenton area of FL by the fall! :dance3:

DisneyZell

03-21-2007, 07:06 AM

cgcw

03-21-2007, 08:15 AM

Hi everyone and thanks for the warm welcome. It seems like this will be a very friendly group! There is another thread for this cruise, so I (DW) had found that one first and posted. But, this seems like the one to be on, so we have found a home! We are very excited about the cruise and think it will be amazing to be spending Christmas on the Mickey boat (as my 4 year old likes to call it). Can't wait to meet everyone!:banana:

I looked for the other thread and didn't find it, but I can only go back 5 pages and search isn't working. I saw one for 12/20/07 but not 12/20/08 (looks like 2008 is a leap year as the dates are the same). Anyway, if you have a link to the other thread, we can ask a moderator to combine the two threads into one so we're all together. :cheer2:

DisneyZell

03-21-2007, 09:13 AM

I looked for the other thread and didn't find it, but I can only go back 5 pages and search isn't working. I saw one for 12/20/07 but not 12/20/08 (looks like 2008 is a leap year as the dates are the same). Anyway, if you have a link to the other thread, we can ask a moderator to combine the two threads into one so we're all together. :cheer2:

I found the thread...it was on pg 6, but do you know how to have the moderator combine the two? I had to open up threads from the last 2 months in order to find it. If you know, I'd be happy to have the moderator combine them.

cgcw

03-22-2007, 06:26 AM

I found the thread...it was on pg 6, but do you know how to have the moderator combine the two? I had to open up threads from the last 2 months in order to find it. If you know, I'd be happy to have the moderator combine them.

That's why I couldn't find it. For some reason, we only get to go back 5 pages. And, with search not working, that's not an option either.

Anyway, having the two thread merged should be very easy to do. All you have to do is send a PM (personal message) to one of the moderators and ask to have this thread and the other thread merged together. Up at the top right hand corner, below your userid, just click on Private Messages and it will take you to an area to do the message. If you ask Lisa - lbgraves, or any of the other moderators, -- I'm sure she'll be able to make the merge happen.

If you need any help, just ask!

DisneyZell

03-22-2007, 07:10 AM

bumping up to merge threads

DisneyZell

03-22-2007, 03:16 PM

Ok, merged the two cruise meets threads...hopefully more people will find us now.:goodvibes

SnowWhite2

04-01-2007, 06:41 PM

I found you!!!

I've been looking for a thread for this cruise but never seemed to find it until now.

We have been on 3 Disney cruises with the family and this Christmas cruise will be our 5th. We have one planned for Feb 08 also. My girls will be in 7th and 9th grade when we take this cruise...that will make them 14 and 12. We booked both of our 2008 cruises on our Feb 3rd Eastern cruise. This Christmas cruise was a surprise to my husband when I booked it. I was reading Christmas trip reports before our Feb cruise and it sounded like so much fun. The double dip is the icing on the cake!

We purchased into DVC in Feb on-board also. We are trying to use points for the Feb 08 cruise but the points are not out yet. If they end up higher than expected, this cruise may be on hold.

Laurie

nzdisneymom

04-01-2007, 07:56 PM

Laurie - welcome! We're DVCers, too - just passed our one year anniversary, but so far we haven't tried to use points for a cruise, although that's part of what convinced DH that we should go ahead and join DVC since you CAN use them for cruising as well.

And this Christmas cruise is a SURPRISE for my children, too -- we did the Western in Dec. 2005 and had Costa Maya instead of Cozumel and really didn't do anything at Costa Maya. For us, having the double-dip at Castaway Cay AND being on board for Christmas was the selling point for me.

cgcw

04-03-2007, 06:57 AM

:welcome: Laurie :welcome:

Spring had sprung around here and now we are off and running. Just about every night one of the kids, or both of the kids have some type of activity going. It'll probably be June before things settle down :faint:

We are almost 7 years into DVC and to sound like a lot of other people, we should have bought earlier. It has opened up some tremendous vacation opprotunities for us and because of it, we've also made some wonderful friends. I think at this point we're going to start thinking a little more out of the box and try some other options besides WDW. As much as we love it there, we're ready for a little different vacation.

We do have points at Hilton Head as well as WDW and absolutely love Hilton Head. :love: If you haven't been, you really should try it sometimes. It's so different from a trip to WDW. We just got back this past Sunday from a week there and are all ready to go back.

alikat99

04-03-2007, 07:49 AM

Welcome to the group, Laurie!! We are also DVC members!! We bought on the first day that VWL was open for sale and we love it!!

I'm with you, Cindy! Spring has sprung and things are crazy around here. We're getting ready for our next cruise in just 3 weeks and I'm also trying to plan a surprise birthday party for Chris and Madison before we leave. Urgg!!!

cgcw

04-08-2007, 08:33 AM

Happy Easter!!!

DisneyZell

04-08-2007, 12:53 PM

It seems like many of you are DVC owners. We are owners with Marriott and love it as well. We are actually going to their timeshare at Disneyland Paris this summer. We are very excited as it is our first trip to Paris and we are huge Disney fans, so we get a little adventure for everyone. We have considered trading into a Disney timeshare, but it is more cost effective for us to stay at a Marriott property. Hope everyone is having a nice Easter:goodvibes

cgcw

04-15-2007, 08:03 AM

I have heard very good things about Marriott.

For us, if we ever venture to sell DVC, we'll probably end up buying a home down in FL that we'd rent out when we were not using it. The catch for us is that with DVC, we also go yearly to their Hilton Head Island resort, and as long as my family enjoys it as much (or more :eek: ) than WDW, there is no way we're going to end up having places in both Florida and South Carolina.

Cindy

alikat99

05-01-2007, 12:48 PM

Hey everyone - we're finally home from our most recent DCL cruise and now we can look forward to this one!! I can't wait to sail again on the Magic!!!

nzdisneymom

05-01-2007, 01:07 PM

Amy - welcome back! We are leaving in 2 1/2 months for our next cruise on the Magic and cannot wait! And I know when we get back, we'll begin that oh-so-long wait til we sail again in Dec. 2008.

Diana Lyn

05-01-2007, 01:27 PM

Hey everyone - we're finally home from our most recent DCL cruise and now we can look forward to this one!! I can't wait to sail again on the Magic!!!

I love your countdown timer---I guess I should add one to my signature too!! :cool1:

alikat99

05-01-2007, 01:30 PM

I love your countdown timer---I guess I should add one to my signature too!! :cool1:
You should, and yours could be a birthday cruise!!!:cheer2:

Diana Lyn

05-01-2007, 01:32 PM

You should, and yours could be a birthday cruise!!!:cheer2:

I tried to do Christmas Birthday and it didn't fit!! :guilty:

cgcw

05-01-2007, 08:48 PM

I love your countdown timer---I guess I should add one to my signature too!! :cool1:

Me too! :thumbsup2

alikat99

05-02-2007, 05:32 AM

Copycats!!! :rotfl2: Just teasin!!! I'm glad that we have something to look forward together again!!!

cgcw

05-13-2007, 08:00 AM

:daisy: :daisy: :daisy: Happy Mother's Day :daisy: :daisy: :daisy:

alikat99

05-13-2007, 08:05 AM

Happy Mother's Day
to all the moms, grandmothers, mothers-in-law and godmothers!

nzdisneymom

05-13-2007, 12:24 PM

The Magic left yesterday heading for the Med. There's a "live from..." (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1450177)thread going on for those like me who have a desparate need to be a voyeur on that voyage!

disneycruise_obessed

05-13-2007, 06:17 PM

hey guys
ive been lookign all oveer for a thread for this cruise
so it will be myself, celebrating a belated by 3 months sweet sixteen
and my sisters who will be 12 and 9.
along with my mom and dad

it will be disney cruise numebr two
as well as number two on the magicc

im super excited
especially since its gonna be a christmas cruise

:goodvibes

nzdisneymom

06-05-2007, 02:57 PM

Disneycruiseobsessed - welcome to the thread!

We're under 6 weeks away from our Med. cruise and we're getting so excited about it. I decided to join the blog-craze and do a blog for our prep and then do our trip report there for family and friends who don't read DIS. Here the link (http://cruisethemedwithus.blogspot.com/) if you're interested. I've so enjoyed reading the blogs of other Med. travelers.

And I'm excited about knowing we have this Christmas Cruise to look forward to once we get home from the Med. cruise. When we planned the Med. Cruise, it was 15 months in advance - which seemed ages and ages away -- but it's gone by much faster than I ever would have expected. When we come back, we'll be 17 months from the Christmas Cruise and I hope it goes by quickly too!

DisneyZell

06-05-2007, 03:53 PM

nzdisneymom-I'm so jealous you are able to do the Med. cruise. That sounds like a great trip. We will be visiting Paris this summer and are taking a trip to Disneyland Paris so it will be interesting to see the differences between the American parks and Paris. I hope you have a great cruise!

DisneyZell

06-26-2007, 03:09 PM

bump! don't want us forgotten even though we are so far away! :)

nzdisneymom

06-26-2007, 03:38 PM

We'll be leaving soon for our Med. Cruise and when we first started planning it, it was so far away. When we get back, our next focus will be on this cruise which will be another 17 months, but the time really does go fast! I'm excited about being on-board for Christmas, and I've already alerted my boss that I will be taking off that week in 2008! She laughed and told me to put it on the calendar.

Diana Lyn

06-26-2007, 03:41 PM

You're going to have so much fun on the Med cruise! Time does seem to fly because it seems like yesterday they were just announcing the Med cruises!

I'm anxious for this cruise since we don't have any cruises planned between now and then, but I really can't wait to be onboard for Christmas!!

cgcw

07-04-2007, 08:02 AM

Happy 4th of July!!!

http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/img/holidays/4th-july/kids.gif

nzdisneymom

07-06-2007, 03:09 PM

alikat99

07-06-2007, 04:11 PM

Ok, it's too late for me to make a Fish Extender for our upcoming cruise, but there's plenty of time for our MAGICal Christmas 2008 Cruisers to do this -- have y'all seen this thread (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1219607&page=2&highlight=fish+extender) / participated in this kind of thing before? We're doing a modified version for our upcoming cruise, but I love this idea and think it would be so fun to do for this group!

Anyone made a fish extender before or have one? I'm lovin' it and think I might have some fabric already that I could use.
Hey Cindy - you see that picture in that thread that you posted, the one with the pink "fish extender"? That just happens to be my door from our 2005 DVC cruise. I was shocked to see my picture on that thread way back when it started. :rotfl2: So, we definitely have a fish extender.:cheer2:

nzdisneymom

07-06-2007, 05:27 PM

How cool! I love that whole idea and want to make one!

Diana Lyn

07-06-2007, 06:30 PM

cgcw

07-06-2007, 09:00 PM

Hey Cindy - you see that picture in that thread that you posted, the one with the pink "fish extender"? That just happens to be my door from our 2005 DVC cruise. I was shocked to see my picture on that thread way back when it started. :rotfl2: So, we definitely have a fish extender.:cheer2:

Too funny, Amy!!!

We also have the same one, except my boys would have had a riot if I bought it in pink :eek: , so it's blue.

I believe that someone (Lisa - lbgraves??) who sailed on a Christmastime Cruise hung stockings at their door instead of the regular fish extender. :santa:

Cindy, if you check out ebay, there use to be a seller -- mrslips -- that's where I believe Amy, Diana & I know I got mine. If you did a search on Disney wall organizers, you might be able to find one. Here's a current listing now:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Disney-Mickey-Mouse-Pink-or-Blue-Wall-Organizer_W0QQitemZ190129528751QQihZ009QQcategoryZ 20436QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

For anyone who might decide to hang anything from their fish on the ship, here's the best tip of all. Make sure you attach it to your fish with a zip tag (you know those things that are indistructable, which attach toys to the box). This is something that was suggested to us on our first cruise as sometimes things have a tendency to disappear if not secured. :sad2:

alikat99

07-06-2007, 09:42 PM

Too funny, Amy!!!

We also have the same one, except my boys would have had a riot if I bought it in pink :eek: , so it's blue.

I believe that someone (Lisa - lbgraves??) who sailed on a Christmastime Cruise hung stockings at their door instead of the regular fish extender. :santa:

Cindy, if you check out ebay, there use to be a seller -- mrslips -- that's where I believe Amy, Diana & I know I got mine. If you did a search on Disney wall organizers, you might be able to find one. Here's a current listing now:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Disney-Mickey-Mouse-Pink-or-Blue-Wall-Organizer_W0QQitemZ190129528751QQihZ009QQcategoryZ 20436QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

For anyone who might decide to hang anything from their fish on the ship, here's the best tip of all. Make sure you attach it to your fish with a zip tag (you know those things that are indistructable, which attach toys to the box). This is something that was suggested to us on our first cruise as sometimes things have a tendency to disappear if not secured. :sad2:
What's funny is that I've never zip-stripped mine to the fish. And, no one has ever messed with it. But, the last several trips we were in one of the SPH rooms, so there's a lot less traffic on those hallways.:woohoo:

Maybe I need to go into business sewing "fish extenders" on eBay for the DIS. I could make a fortune!!!!:banana: :rotfl2:

cgcw

07-07-2007, 07:11 AM

Maybe I need to go into business sewing "fish extenders" on eBay for the DIS. I could make a fortune!!!!:banana: :rotfl2:

:thumbsup2 I'm first in line! :lmao:

nzdisneymom

07-07-2007, 08:47 AM

:thumbsup2 I'm first in line! :lmao:

And I'll be right behind you!!!!

alikat99

07-07-2007, 09:14 AM

Maybe after all of my summer visitors have gone, I'll have to see if I can pull off making some. I'll start with my Christmas cruisin' buddies!!!

cgcw

07-18-2007, 06:18 AM

:bday: :bday: :cake: :cake: Happy Birthday Amy!!! :cake: :cake: :bday: :bday:

:dance3: party: :dance3: party: :dance3:

nzdisneymom

08-23-2007, 05:43 AM

Well, school has started which means these next months will fly by. This time next year we'll be doing the more serious cruise planning! Hope everyone had a fun summer.

cgcw

08-23-2007, 06:07 AM

Cindy, school started for my kids yesterday as well.

Our live has gone from buzy to even busier. Not sure how that happens or how we'll manage everything, but somehow or another, it always gets done.

We are looking forward to this cruise. :santa: We are fortunate in that we have several trips planned between now and then. I just can't imagine anything more special than Christmas on the Magic.

nzdisneymom

08-23-2007, 06:21 AM

We have a lot of stuff planned too between now and then -- see our sig line (hee hee). Life is way more fun when you have a trip planned!

Tell us more about your upcoming cruise.

cgcw

08-23-2007, 02:34 PM

We have a lot of stuff planned too between now and then -- see our sig line (hee hee). Life is way more fun when you have a trip planned!

Tell us more about your upcoming cruise.

Cindy, you have even more trips planned than us! :cool1:

We are cruising Thanksgiving week with friends we met on the last two DVC member cruises. We tried to get Amy & Diana to join us, but it didn't work out for them. We'll be sailing on Royal Carribean Mariner of the Seas. We are looking forward to getting away. :boat:

We have plans in the works for a couple more trips between now and this cruise. Sometimes I tell my children how lucky they truly are but I don't think that they really understand that not everyone has the opprotunities they have when it comes to vacations. My oldest sometimes grumbles when I say we're going to WDW again (:eek: :confused: :eek: ) and then I tell him to ask his friends how often they have been. That gets him quieted down in a hurry. :rolleyes1

We actually went to Ohio this summer and had a blast. We met up with friends again from the last DVC member cruise. Diana was there, our friends we're cruising with in November were there, sadly, Amy couldn't make it.

We have a rather unique group in that we seek out to spend time with everyone and do it a couple of times a year. Who would have thought we'd make friends like that on the DIS boards. ;) I'm sure you've heard about those internet people. :rotfl2: Our get togethers have become so much more than DIS meets ever will be. I hope for that to hold true for this group as well. :thumbsup2

nzdisneymom

08-23-2007, 03:26 PM

We were in New Mexico last week meeting up with some of "those internet friends" that I met online when I was pregnant with Z who will be 10 in Sept. We got together to celebrate the 10 yr olds -- we did that a couple of times when they were younger, but haven't in a while. We had 7 families meet up in Albuquerque - it was a blast!

We're lucky that we live in FL and are DVC-owners so it makes those spur-of-the-moment trips more possible - like DH wanted us to go to WDW for Z's birthday which I had not planned for us to do - but hey, if DH says "let's go" then I'm packing! Season tickets, too.

We rebooked when we were on our Med cruise for April so we've made our own "land and sea" package since we were already going to WDW for spring break.

alikat99

08-23-2007, 07:57 PM

We're lucky that we live in FL and are DVC-owners so it makes those spur-of-the-moment trips more possible - like DH wanted us to go to WDW for Z's birthday which I had not planned for us to do - but hey, if DH says "let's go" then I'm packing! Season tickets, too.
Ok, maybe I knew this already, but where are you in FL??? :confused3 We're in St. Pete, and Diana will be a Floridian in a few short weeks!!! :banana: :banana:

nzdisneymom

08-24-2007, 06:16 AM

Ok, maybe I knew this already, but where are you in FL??? :confused3 We're in St. Pete, and Diana will be a Floridian in a few short weeks!!! :banana: :banana:

We're in Tallahassee. 4 1/2 hours from my door to WDW.

cgcw

08-24-2007, 06:37 AM

We had some really nasty storms roll through here yesterday. :umbrella: :upsidedow :umbrella: The ground is saturated so many areas are starting to flood. Our tornado siren went off at least 2 time in a span of a couple of hours. The storms just kept coming and coming. My DS7 just got off the bus as it sounded the first time, and he was running home in a panic from the corner. My older DS was getting the rest of the crew up and into the safety of the bathroom. We've been through this so many times lately, we're becoming pros. :sad2:

The brunt of the storm missed us, hitting east of our town. Many trees were downed and I've read there is a lot of damage. Some of the neighboring schools are closed due to either damage or no electric. I heard our schools power was out about 5 last night, but it seems all is well again, as the school is open this morning.

More headed this way today. :scared1: I'm not sure where they are heading, east of us, so heads up.

njmom23grls

09-08-2007, 08:15 PM

Greeting other 2008 cruisers! Dh and I just transfered our 2007 to this cruise in 2008 - nasty little thing called work - anyhow - we are a party of 5 - myself (Lisa) and DH (Mark) - and 3 girls - ages (by the time we cruise) 21, 14, and 10 . This will be our first Christmas cruise and 3rd disney cruise - we cruised over New Years in 2006 and had a ball! Looking forward to meeting everyone as our trip gets closer!

Lisa:cool1:

nzdisneymom

09-08-2007, 08:35 PM

Welcome njmom - I'm Cindy D. and we're a party of 4. This will be our 4th DCL cruise - we sailed Dec. 2005 (western caribbean) and July 2007 (western Med.), and we're sailing on the Wonder in April '08 (which we had not planned when we booked the Christmas cruise for 2008).

I have two boys who will be 12 and 11 when we sail...

cgcw

09-09-2007, 08:40 AM

:welcome: Lisa

This will be our first Christmas cruise and 3rd Disney cruise -- but the first 7 nighter we're doing. The other two have been 4 nights on the Wonder, for the DVC Member Cruises.

We have 2 boys -- they will be 14 & 8 at the time we sail. :eek: Where does the time go?

alikat99

09-09-2007, 10:13 AM

Welcome to the group, Lisa!! This will be our first holiday cruise too, and I'm really looking forward to it (besides the fact that my 2 friends and their families are joining us [cgcw & DianaLyn])!!

This will be our 6th family cruise, 3rd 7-night cruise (we've also been on 3 4-night cruises). My girls will be 7 and 4 when we cruise next December!!!

I agree with you Cindy, where does the time go?!?!??! :confused3

cgcw

09-09-2007, 12:37 PM

Welcome to the group, Lisa!! This will be our first holiday cruise too, and I'm really looking forward to it (besides the fact that my 2 friends and their families are joining us [cgcw & DianaLyn])!!

As much as I don't agree with things being done with DVC right now and as much as I don't spend nearly as much time on the DIS as I did in the past, I am very grateful to have made a couple of wonderful friends because of having both in common.

We are looking forward to spending an entire week with you & your family. Hopefully you won't be tired of seeing us by weeks end - not to mention having us on the other side of the wall from you. :rotfl2: I'm sure my youngest will be knocking on that connecting room door quite often, just to see if you are home.

I hope that we all have a great time getting to know each other over the next 15 months.

ShannonR

10-04-2007, 05:33 PM

Hello everyone! My name is Shannon, and along with my husband Rick, booked this cruise this afternoon. We have three children ages DD14:cheer2: , DS11pirate: and oops! DD3:cutie: . We just sailed on our very first Disney cruise in 03/07 and instantly fell in love. We are absolutely Disney crazy and can't wait to go again! We live in the VERY south of Texas so the weather in the Carribean is not all that different for us, but we can't wait to be on the big red boat at Christmas!!!:woohoo: I hope to get to know all of you as well as we got to know our last group of cruise mates!:grouphug: I still communicate via email to several of the women and my 14 y.o. daughter bonded with several of the girls her age from our DIS group. It was great! I hope there will be more boys my son's age on this cruise because on the last one, there weren't any:sad1: Hope to talk to everyone soon!!!! Glad to be here and can't wait to get to DISing with all of you!

Shannon

nzdisneymom

10-04-2007, 05:39 PM

Hi Shannon! I'm Cindy D. and this will be our family's 4th DCL cruise - we've done two on the Magic (the last one was the Med - fabulous) and we have one on the Wonder coming up in April. The Christmas cruise is a surprise for our two boys who will be 12 1/2 and 11 when we sail. Hard to think about that as the younger one JUST turned 10 about 10 days ago.

We look fwd to getting to know you.

Diana Lyn

10-04-2007, 07:31 PM

Welcome Shannon!!

I'm Diana, I have 2DDs, 4 and 3 and will be celebrating my 36th (YIKES!!) birthday on Christmas on this cruise! I live in Florida, just south of Tampa. This will be our 5th Disney Cruise, but 1st time on the Magic.

ShannonR

10-04-2007, 10:34 PM

Thanks for the welcome! I can't believe you all have had this thread going since the beginning of the year!?! and I'm just now joining in:eek: I hope I can get caught up on who's who:rotfl: :rotfl: .

Just a little about us: I am Shannon and I am a labor and delivery nurse in the very south of Texas and can tell you ANYTHING you want to know about illegal immigration and the Hispanic culture as a whole. We are about 10 minutes from the border of Mexico and have average temps of 90-100 degrees 9 months out of the year. We are originally from Michigan where we averaged 30-40 degree temps the majority of the year so I guess we trade pine trees and snow for palm trees and sun:confused3. My husband, Rick is an at home dad and is GREAT at it:love: He is currently going back to school to further his education. Our oldest is Morgan (DD14) who just entered her freshman year of high school, thinks she knows EVERYTHING, hates her parents and is obsessed with animals. She loves her agricultural class, is in FFA and would be the president of PETA if we let her. She just announced to us recently that she is now a vegetarian due to animal cruelty:sad2: . It's great having a teenage daughter:rotfl2: :rotfl2: Our son Mitchell (DS10) is our gifted child is on the straight and narrow at all times. He also LOVES sports and from the age of 4 has played virtually ALL sports all year long. However, this year decided that he only wants to play baseball and basketball. Thank God we now live in a warm state that has those two sports offered all year long so he can be playing all year.:woohoo: And then there is our baby, Melissa (DD3):cutie: She is by far our most entertaining and active child (I say that with a smirk on my face because in reality she is a wild red headed monster, ha!ha!:scared: ) She was a huge surprise and keeps us on our toes every day, but wouldn't trade her for a pot of gold:hug: .

We went on our first Disney cruise (1st cruise ever for that matter) in 3/07 and loved it!!:love: We went through serious cruise withdrawl when we got back:sad1: and knew we had to go again. We are so excited to be going at Christmas:santa: I am not quite sure what to do about the Santa issue yet:confused: , but I am sure I will think of something by that time;) I am looking forward to all the decorations and festivities that I am sure to be offered knowing DCL.

It may be a little premature, but I would love to get a list going of all cruise mates with names, ages and place of origin. I can then send to everyone interested so that we can get to know who's who and see the age ranges of the kids. I am a huge planner and LOVE to be prepared (type A, right?) Also, if anyone has kids the same ages as my kids and think that their child would like to e-mail my kids, let me know so I can send you their e-mail addresses. Morgan did this on the last cruise and it helped her SO much come cruising time. She and the other girls had a blast e-mailing for a couple of months prior to the cruise. They hung out the whole cruise and enjoyed each other's company in the activities. :grouphug:

Well, I guess I have rambled on enough for one night (I tend to do that from time to time, ha!ha!:lmao: ) I hope to hear from everyone soon!

Shannon

cgcw

10-05-2007, 03:34 AM

:welcome: Shannon!!!

I'm the other Cindy on this thread. We live in a suburb of Chicago so we'll be anxious to get away from the winter cold when we do this cruise. :cold:

This will be our first 7 day cruise and we're sailing with alikat99 - Amy & dianalyn - Diana who we met and became fast friends with on our last 2 DVC member cruises. We had a lot of fun getting to know each other and our friendship, along with another friends, have moved to another level besides cruise friendships. It's something I never thought would happen (me, meet people over the internet :scared: ) but something I wouldn't trade today.

We have 2 boys -- they will be 14 :eek: - oh my, he's only turning 13 this weekend, and the other will be 8. I'm sure he'll be on the lookout for Morgan, but I'd be surprised if he was interested in emailing with her before the cruise. Something about her being a girl. ;)

We are doing a 7 day cruise with friends over Thanksgiving on another line. I'm looking forward to getting away and spending time with our friends, while at the same time comparing that cruiseline to Disney.

I love the idea of keeping a list of who is who and who's traveling along with them. On our last member cruise, we did a lot of stuff along the way and most of us still keep in touch either by way of posting on that thread here on the disboards or even getting together. We've had some large group vacations which have been more fun than we could even imagine. It would be great to do that with friends from this thread as well.

SnowWhite2

10-07-2007, 06:52 PM

Shannon - on another DCL cruise I'm taking in early 2008 we have set up a Yahoo group where we share our personal info - name, cabin number, cell phone #, etc. Each person has to be added to the group so only those on the cruise can see our info. I have no idea how to set it up but if you know how that would be a great way to get to know each other without everyone who logs into the DIS knowing our info. Anyone know how to set it up?

I can relate to your teenage daughter issues - my DD13 is just like yours - hates parents, thinks she knows everything but instead of being crazy for animals she is crazy about boys :scared: She has decided to go to the Lab for our Feb cruise since she knows two boys (of course) that are returning again and they are only 12. I am happy because I was not very comfortable with her in the teen area with older boys...she would be out of her league. :sad2:

Diana Lyn

10-08-2007, 06:20 AM

ShannonR

10-08-2007, 05:08 PM

That would be great, Diana!!:cool1: I am pretty computer illiterate but I know that compiling that list was SOOOO helpful in setting up email partners for the kids and arranging activities on the cruise. By the time we had our DIS meet and greet, Morgan felt she was already pretty good friends with a lot of the girls. I hope to find that there are boys Mitchell's age, because he felt pretty left out last cruise. And yes, Diana, this is what you have to look forward to in having two girls. I remember crying when the doctor told me our oops! baby was a girl, because Morgan was already 11 years old with the preteen attitude!:scared: and I knew what we were in for with another one!:rotfl: With as much grief as a teenage daughter can give you a headache:mad: , I would not trade her for the world!!:love: I am lucky that she does not seem to be interested in boys yet and fear the day she finally discovers them :eek:

Let me know how I can help with starting the list! I know we have 14 months to go, but we are already SOOO excited:yay: that we can't help but want to dive in and get to know everyone and start planning!:goodvibes We booked the last cruise one year in advance and that year seemed to drag by, I only hope this time it doesn't feel as long of a wait:sad1:

Well, I have to sign off for now and get ready for work (I work nights in labor and delivery). Everyone have a good night!

Shannon

Diana Lyn

10-13-2007, 06:50 AM

I created the Yahoo Group, if anyone is interested in joining, just pm me your email address or yahoo id and I'll invite you! :cool1:

cgcw

10-13-2007, 08:21 AM

I created the Yahoo Group, if anyone is interested in joining, just pm me your email address or yahoo id and I'll invite you! :cool1:

Diana & Amy are both great at the yahoo group stuff --- they set one up for a scrapbooking circle journal we are doing from the last cruise that sailed on -- so they are perfect for the job! :thumbsup2

I already accepted the invite I received this morning! Thanks, Diana!

ShannonR

10-13-2007, 03:34 PM

Thanks Diana, for creating the yahoo group!:cool1: I sent you a PM with our info for the group. I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far! I worked last night and I work again tonight, but I am going to a wedding right before work of one of the obstetricians who I work with.:bride: It is supposed to be a pretty "swanky" deal being that his bride to be is the host of what is considered to be the "Good Morning America" of Mexico.

Is everyone getting ready for Halloween? We LOVE holidays at our house and decorate for each and every one of them!:rotfl: We even have our house all decked out in Halloween lights (it reminds me of the Griswold house at Christmas!:rotfl2: ) Morgan is too old to go trick or treating (of course:rolleyes: ) but the baby is just getting into the spirit of it at 3 years of age. She was still a little to young last year to get the concept of door to door, but I think this year will be a success. Rick always is the one to stay home and hand out the candy while I take the kids around the neighborhood for treats!

Does anyone know if we can take a little Christmas tree aboard the ship for Christmas? They have miniature ones at Hobby Lobby and I would love to get one with tiny lights for Christmas Day. Maybe Shirley has some sort of gift basket for Christmas that we can send the kids on the ship? We got the kids gift baskets from Shirley on the last cruise and the kids LOVED them!:love:

Well, I guess I need to get ready for this "celebrity" wedding and then off to work!:sad1: It's all worth it when I walk that plank and onto the big red boat!!!!!:woohoo:

Shannon

Diana Lyn

10-13-2007, 07:57 PM

I sent out invites to Shannon, Cindy, Cindy and Amy. If anyone else wants one, just pm me and I'll invite you!

We're still in the middle of moving, we'll we're moved, we're just no where near unpacked, so Halloween is going to be a little lame-o this year. But look out Christmas!! I'm a Christmas nut---and my birthday being on Christmas only makes if more fun for me. I've already started looking for the perfect tree for our new house. Our last house had 7 ft ceilings in the family room so our tree was about 5.5 in tall. This year, I'm gonna have a skyscraper tree!!! I am planning on bringing one of those mini trees on the cruise. I got one at Michaels last year really cheap for my scrapbooking room and made all these little Mickey ornaments for it.

Shannon---hope you had fun at the wedding!!

ShannonR

10-24-2007, 10:06 PM

Just thought I would drop a note and say Hi! I just got done working 5 nights in a row and have the next 5 nights off (I am hoping to not see 1 pregnant woman while I am off!:rotfl: ) I haven't seen anyone post in a while so I thought I would see what everyone is up to!?!

How is unpacking going, Diana? It is truly one of the biggest pains to move into a new house:headache: When we moved down here almost 4 years ago, I said I would NEVER move again because of all the work it brings!:scared:

Is everyone ready for Halloween? We certainly are!:cool1: It is so nice to not have to wear coats, hats, and mittens over the kids costumes now that we live in Texas (it wasn't surprising to have it snow on Halloween when we lived in Michigan:sad1: ) Does everybody's kids trick or treat? Only my youngest will. Morgan is going out with some of her girlfriends to a Halloween festival. Oh the bond of teenage girls, right?:grouphug: :rolleyes: :grouphug: :rolleyes:

I am going tomorrow to buy my little Christmas tree, mini lights, and mini ornaments for the cruise. My husband tells me "Shannon, they will be at Hobby Lobby again next year before the cruise", but I want to start buying things NOW!!!:yay: I am sure I will drive him nuts this next year just like last time (but I know he still loves me:love: :rolleyes: :love: :rolleyes: ) I have a little basket that I started collecting things for the cruise and just kept them in the basket (although, I found that a lot of what we purchased, we ended up not needing at all!:eek: )

Well I will sign off for now, but I hope that I hear from you all soon!
Shannon

Kborn

10-29-2007, 12:02 PM

Good afternoon ladies...Just wanted pop in and say Hi! We are booked for this cruise as well, we booked on our Oct. 13 - 20 cruise. There are several families from that cruise that rebooked for this one as well...

I see a little back ground is in order...sailing party:

Kborn (Keith 47 @ sailing) a little side bar, I may be 47, but I will always act 19!!!!!:hippie: :lmao: :hippie: :rotfl2:
Tina (DW 45 @ sailing-BTW, I did not type that, I would never tell my wife's age in public):sad2: :scared: :rolleyes1
Josh (DS - aka. "little Man" age 8 @ sailing)

This will be our 9th DCL cruise, Josh's 8th - can you say SPOILED ROTTEN! This will be our 1st Christmas Cruise, we went to WDW last year for Christmas and loved it, so we had to book the Christmas Cruise. We meet several families that have cruised over Christmas and loved it....:love:

We are DVCer's as well, bought into Wilderness Lodge in June of 97 and purchased into Saratoga Springs June of 2006. We have only used our points for the parks.

OK, enough rambling....

I look forward to typing at everyone soon...

Keith

OK, I'm not done, I just had to throw in a few pictures from our last cruise. We renewed our 10 yr. vows on Castaway Cay and the pics turned out very well...
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee153/kborn88/DisneyCruiseWeddingRenewalOct132007.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee153/kborn88/DisneyCruiseWeddingRenewalOct132-165.jpg

nzdisneymom

10-29-2007, 12:22 PM

Keith - welcome to you and your family! I loved the pics from your recent trip - how cool to renew your vows at CC.

I'm Cindy D., wife to Gary and mom to Nathan and Zachary. This will be our 4th DCL cruise (our 3rd one is coming up in April). Our first one was in Dec. 2005 and it returned to Port Canaveral on Christmas Eve. It was so cool being on the ship with all the holiday festivities, so I cannot wait to be on the ship on Christmas day itself. We haven't told the kids and they fortunately don't lurk at DisBoards :)

Even though this will be the Western itinerary which we did before, we had to miss Cozumel because of hurricane damage... we were disappointed because we had really wanted to go there. We weren't excited about Costa Maya but the more I read, the more I think we'll enjoy a day there as well - but what really sold us was the double-dip at Castaway Cay.

Kborn

10-29-2007, 12:54 PM

Thanks Cindy D, I think it will be great waking up with Santa Mickey....

We are with you about Castaway Cay, it would not hurt our feelings if the ship broke down on Sunday and we had to STAY THERE ALL WEEK!:love: :love: :love:

We also heard they make snow on Castaway Cay, we were at MGM last year when they were making snow, it was incredible!

Well, back to work...:sad2: :sad1: :sad2:

Diana Lyn

10-29-2007, 01:19 PM

Welcome Keith and family! :welcome: Those photos are beautiful. We were married at Disney World 5 1/2 years ago....we plan on doing a vow renewal at 10 years at Castaway Cay too!

I'm Diana, Bruce the Shark is my DH, he seldom posts. We have two girls, Emma, now 4, Julia, now 3. We just moved to Florida from upstate NY and this will be our 5th cruise, and the girls 3rd, so we know all about being spoiled rotten with 2 cruise before they each turned 3!

cgcw

10-29-2007, 07:49 PM

:welcome: Keith & Family. Your family is beautiful and no worries, I won't tell your wife that you spilled the scoop on her age. Just don't ask for mine. ;)

I'm the other-Cindy on the thread. My DH, Gary (aka Garfield here on the DIS although he hasn't posted in forever) -- Hey -- CindyD, did you see that -- Cindy & Gary twice on this thread :lmao: -- will be sailing with our sons who will be 14 and 8. We live in the Chicagoland area, so we will certainly be looking to get away from the mid-winter weather come cruise time.

This will be our 3rd Disney cruise, our first 7 day on the Magic. The other two have been 4 day DVC member cruises. We are sailing in just another couple of weeks over Thanksgiving on a 7 night cruise on Royal Caribbean. We're sailing with friends we met on the last couple of cruises. I'm looking forward to comparing it with a 4 day and Disney. I hope it's going to be just as enjoyable.

I can't wait to spend Christmas on the Magic. :santa:

nzdisneymom

10-29-2007, 08:16 PM

Cindy - that's too crazy that there will be two Cindys married to two Garys - how funny is that?!

It's been so fun thinking about the cruise today. When we were at Castaway Cay just before Christmas, it snowed when we got off the ship in the morning, and then they had cocoa and cookies when we were re-boarding in the afternoon. It was such a beautiful time of year - mild but not too mild.

ShannonR

11-03-2007, 03:59 PM

Hi everyone! Welcome Keith! I am Shannon and along with my husband Rick:surfweb: , we have 3 children, DD15:cheer2: , DS12pirate: , and DD4:cutie: (all at cruising time). My son is soooo excited that there seem to be so many boys around the same age as him on this cruise because on the last Disney cruise we took in March, there were ZERO!!!:scared1:

This is our 2nd Disney cruise, but we have made it a mission in life to be consumed by everything Disney:lmao: so we plan to take several more in the future with trips to WDW in between. We are from the VERY south of Texas (10minutes from the border of Mexico) so the weather in the bahamas isn't that different for us, but we can't wait!! to see the big red Mickey boat at Christmas:santa: . Rick and I have have been together for 22 years and we have decided that we would love:love: to LIVE on Castaway Cay:rotfl2: (you think I can talk Disney into it, Ha!Ha!)

So how was everyone's Halloween? It was SOO hot here that we had to wait for the sun to go down before we ventured out to trick or treat and by then, Melissa (DD3:cutie: )was getting tired, so we were only out for 30 minutes.
Now we are ready for Thanksgiving! We decorated the next day (we are huge into holidays at our house, well okay maybe just me:rolleyes1 )and put up the big blow up turkey in the front yard. I have to work Thanksgiving night, but we will have our meal before going to work!

Well, I will sign off for now and get ready for work (13 hours tonight because of Daylight Savings Time, you know:sad1: ).

Shannon

Kborn

11-14-2007, 12:04 PM

Just popped in to say Hi...OK, I'm good!

I also wanted to "bump" up the thread, I found us on Page 4:sad2:

nzdisneymom

11-14-2007, 01:48 PM

I suspect we'll have more folks joining us once it's the New Year and people start making their holiday plans for 2008. It's so fun to think about this time next year we'll be getting so close to going.

cgcw

11-14-2007, 03:24 PM

We've been busy here getting ready for our Thanksgiving cruise. We leave on Saturday and while we are mostly packed, we have some odds & ends to finish up.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

http://www.hellasmultimedia.com/webimages/thanksgiving/images/signs/mmthanks.gif

Kborn

11-15-2007, 10:38 AM

tinkerbell_29

11-15-2007, 03:17 PM

Hi everyone! We booked this cruise late last night. We were doing the Mexican Riviera cruise but changed our minds. We are also DVC members SSR and VAK. Our first DCL cruise was the Med cruise back in july. We went on the same one as CindY D. :wave: Hi Cindy! We will also be celebrating my mom's birthdya on this cruise. It's a big one but if I tellI'm im trouble. Look forward to getting to know ya'll!
Lissa
Cast:
Me: Lissa 30
Mom: Nancy ?
Brother: Matthew 28
Stateroom: 8586 main dining

nzdisneymom

11-15-2007, 05:24 PM

Lissa - Welcome welcome! I'm so excited you guys are going! And how wonderful to be celebrating your mother's what? 40th birthday?

tinkerbell_29

11-15-2007, 05:43 PM

No she is older than that Cindy D. I told her I was jealous this year she gets to celebrate at WDW and next year on a cruise while matt and I work on our B-days.

Lissa

cgcw

11-15-2007, 06:02 PM

:welcome: Lissa & family

From the other Cindy who's married to the other Gary :rotfl2:

nzdisneymom

11-15-2007, 08:06 PM

No she is older than that Cindy D. I told her I was jealous this year she gets to celebrate at WDW and next year on a cruise while matt and I work on our B-days.

Lissa

Well, since you're 30, I knew she had to be a bit older than 40 but her spirit is definitely younger :) I know that DCL can do a lot of really cool special things for b'days. What day is her actual b'day?

ShannonR

11-16-2007, 10:25 AM

Welcome Lissa and family! I am so glad to see some posts! Cindy, you must be so excited to be leaving for your cruise tomorrow!:cool1: Have a great Thanksgiving! I will be working on Thanksgiving (as I do EVERY year:sad1: ) It's okay, though, because it means I get Christmas Eve off:santa: Even though I work Christmas Day, I work nights, so by the time I go into work, all the festivities are done, so I really only want Christmas Eve off so we can track Santa on the computer (have any of you ever done that? It is SOOO neat for the kids:santa: :cutie: :santa: :cutie: ) Mine look forward to it every year and it is quite realistic, too.

We just recently had a cold front come through some we are down to the 70-80 degree temperature range during the day and 60 at night:eek: Winter coats all around:rotfl2: (We are originally from Michigan, remember?)

Well, I start a stretch of 5 nights in a row tonight:scared: , then one night off, then Thanksgiving night, then three off. The holidays always mess up your schedule and when you work nights, your rhythm as well. Oh well, the tree goes up next Friday. Anyone go shopping next Friday? :scared1: My husband would do all our Christmas shopping via the internet if I would let him. What is the fun in that:rolleyes:

Have a good weekend everyone and a great cruise to you, Cindy!!!!

Shannon

nzdisneymom

11-16-2007, 11:54 AM

Shannon - we track Santa with NORAD every year - the kids love to do it. It also gets them in bed at a reasonable time on Christmas Eve.

Cindy - have a fabulous cruise - I can't wait to read about it and see pictures! If you do any "live from..." be sure to post a link over here. I'm feelin' the need for a vicarious vacation!

tinkerbell_29

11-24-2007, 05:41 PM

Hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Busy planning for Christmas at WDW. We are doing an event through gifts of a lifetime for my mom. It will be the first time we have ever been able to surprise her.

Cindy D. her actually b-day is on Dec. 17th but because of school and work schedules we never get to celebrate it until the 22nd.

Lissa

ShannonR

11-25-2007, 10:19 AM

Hi everyone! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! and Cindy, I hope your cruise was a blast! I would have given my right arm to be anywhere but where but where I was:sad1: We had lady come in ten minutes into the shift who lost her baby and what worse is she was 32 weeks, had tried 8 years for that baby and feeling really guilty about the entire situation. It REALLY makes you grateful, THANKFUL for what you have! I felt so bad for her all night and left the hospital so depressed Friday morning:sad1: What a horrible way to start the holiday season.

Well enough of the sad stuff! On to better things. Did anyone venture out on Black Friday?:scared1: A couple of the nurses left work early to get into that madness.:eek: I went once and vowed never again!! I try to have most of our shopping done by the beginning of December, but never really succeed:rolleyes:

I am so excited it's getting closer and closer to that one year mark!!:santa: My best friend just had open heart surgery to repair a ASD that she was born with that finally was becoming symptomatic so I am taking her to see Enchanted today for a pick-me-up!:thumbsup2

Well, I have to sign off for now and get ready for the movies! Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Shannon

cgcw

11-29-2007, 05:46 AM

We are back and had a wonderful time. I see us sailing on Royal Caribbean again in the future. :sail: We loved the ship - it's much bigger than the Wonder. I can't wait until our youngest is tall enough to go on the flowrider, then we'll try the Freedom of the Seas. We had almost perfect weather - a bit windy a couple of days - but warm and not humid. Talk about a reality check coming back to 30-some degrees. :cold:

Shannon, as exciting as your job can be, it must be heartbreaking when someone loses a child. One extreme to another in emotions. Hopefully that doesn't happen very often - not that it makes it any easier.

I have never been a black Friday shopper. Much to crazy out there for me. :scared: I do a lot of shopping for Christmas online. That way it gets delivered here, usually when the kids are in school and I can shop when it's easiest for me. I can't believe that Christmas is on the horizon already.

This cruise is going to be here before we know it! :santa:

nzdisneymom

11-29-2007, 06:24 AM

Cindy - welcome back from your cruise. We are considering trying out Royal Caribbean as well to give us some additional destinations, so I'd love to see any photos you have if you are putting them anywhere online.

We had a busy Thanksgiving weekend and the best part was thinking about how THIS TIME NEXT YEAR we'll be in full-cruise-mode! And maybe it will still be a secret from my kids. DH doesn't think I'll make it :)

And to keep me entertained, I've been scrolling through the DCL Pictures of the Day (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=842460) thread to see those holiday-decoration shots from folks who are cruising this year.

dvcChrisVWL

12-04-2007, 07:48 PM

Howdy, all!!! I am Amy's husband (DH of alikat for all you hardcore DISers!). Starting to look forward to planning the cruise. Hmmm... while we are in the holiday spirits, I need to think of some holiday door magnets. Or I can do like we have done in the past and do the mad scramble the night before... :confused3

Did anyone else catch the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party? I don't think I will be willing to pay extra $$ for it in the future. :sad2: We already have passes, I can see the castle another time. Most of the floats (if not all) were from the normal parade - just put to general Christmas music. The fireworks were nice, but mot much more special than normal nightly fireworks - again, put to general Christmas music. Big Bonus: free cookies, apple juice/cider and hot chocolate. Can only down so much of that!

I think I like sticking to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party - I would pay extra to go to that one every year! :woohoo: :cool1: I would like to try a pirate: Pirate and Princess princess: Party some time... Anyone been to that one yet?

alikat99

12-04-2007, 08:07 PM

Hey honey - nice to see you posting here on our Christmas cruise thread!!

Hey everyone - I've been MAJORly MIA lately!! Things have been crazy with work & the girls. And now, we're planning our anniversary trip to WDW in 2 weeks!! :banana:

tinkerbell_29

12-05-2007, 05:47 PM

Hi everyone,
Been busy busy with finalizing plans for our upcoming WDW trip at christmas. We are doing an event with gifts of a lifetime for my mom's B-day while we are down there and are excited by that. We were disappointed by the itinerary released for 2009. We really wanted to go bakc to Europe. Maybe we will do another cruise line or do an adventures by disney trip. Hope everyone is well and is having a wonderful Christmas season.

Lissa

ShannonR

12-06-2007, 03:02 AM

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is doing well! I am up roaming the halls of my house in the middle of the night (die hard night nurse, remember:confused3) so I can't sleep at night and thought I would check in and see if anyone had posted.

Lissa and Amy: I hope you guys have a wonderful trip with your respective families to WDW for Christmas:santa: It has been years since we have been there at Christmas time:sad1: . I want to go to WDW for Halloween next year because Melissa:cutie: will be 4 1/2 years old and maybe old enough to enjoy it:rolleyes: .

We are all go, no quit with baseball right now. Mitchell is 100% into sports with baseball and basketball being his favorites, so this year he decided to give up the rest (football, soccer, golf...) and concentrate on those two year round. So, he is on three, YES THREE:scared1: different baseball teams right now (two regular and a select, elite team coached by former major leaguer Ted Ford). We literally spend every night at the baseball field. Thank God for two things: Rick is an at home dad AND our 14 year old daughter has no ambitions in life but to talk on the phone to her friends:rotfl2: so we can focus on Mitchell right now! The baby stays home with Morgan or goes with us to the field (depending on her mood at the time:cutie: AND the time of the game. Last night's was at 8:00pm:scared: ) Basketball starts next month and I am not quite sure how we are going to manage all the practices, games, tournaments(the elite team travels) and homework. Our saving grace is that Mitchell is an excellent student in GT with academics just coming to him naturally,no studying, no trying, it's just there and allows for him to be liberal with his sports:thumbsup2 .

Well I will sign off for now and wish everyone a great weekend! I will spend mine at the ball field!:laughing:

Shannon

alikat99

12-06-2007, 04:56 AM

DisneyZell

12-06-2007, 02:38 PM

Hello everyone! It's been awhile since we last posted, so I thought I would see what is going on. It was interesting to hear that dvcChirsVWL did not like Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We were planning on going to that next year before the cruise, but now I'm not sure if we should. Last year we went to MNSSHP and loved it, so we thought the Christmas party would be similar. What is it that you don't like about it? If anyone else has any opinions about it I would love to hear them. If we don't do that, we may just have to spend the whole day at the parks! I was comparing prices for our cruise from when we booked until now and I can't believe our category has gone up $1200! I am so glad we booked the day they announced the dates. Of course we also had the 10% on-board booking discount, so that helped too. Here at our house we are busy with sports as well. Connor (5 year old) has soccer while Nick (9 year old) has basketball and flag football. It seems like all I do is go from practice to practice. But they love it and it keeps them busy, so that is good.

Well, that's about it from here. As I look out the window and see snow and ice, I just cannot wait for this cruise to happen. I really miss the sunshine and warm weather!:santa:

tinkerbell_29

12-06-2007, 03:15 PM

Diana Lyn

12-06-2007, 03:22 PM

I'll chime in on the subject of MVMCP, I was actually with Amy and Chris when they went. I agree, I don't think it was worth $150+ for our family of four to go, especially with a 4 year old and 3 year old who were pretty much done by 8:30. I have to admit, it hurt to pay that much for them knowing full well they wouldn't make it to midnight. We're passholders too, so we could have gone to the MK and seen all the lights and decorations any day. From what I understand, they do the Twas the Night Before Christmas Show that I thought was special to MVMCP on Saturdays during park hours anyway. That was the only thing we really had time to see besides the parade and fireworks and even then the girls were wiped and we were packed like sardine, so we cut out after like 10 mins. The lines for the characters were way too long to get pics with them in their holiday outfits and we spent a lot of time waiting for the fireworks and parade because it was so crowded you had to stake out a spot. But we were with friends, so we still had a great time.

Last night we went to Epcot for dinner at the Garden Grill and to see the Candlelight Processional. Monique Coleman was the narrator and my daughters are HUGE High School Musical Fans. The show was beautful and I was so happy we went. After dinner we walked around World Showcase and listened to the Christmas stories of Mexico, Norway and Germany before getting in line. We did the 8:15 show and walked out and took a spot on the bridge to watch Illuminations with the special holiday ending. Amazing. I have to say, last night at Epcot was way better for us than MVMCP and it didn't cost us anything extra (besides dinner) to go there.

DisneyZell

12-06-2007, 05:14 PM

Thanks, Diana Lyn, for the input. Were the lines for the rides crowded? I don't care about the characters, since we will get them in their holiday gear on board, so we would be going for the rides. That was one of the great things about MNSSHP...the lines were so short and we even went on a day that they were sold out. I'm just wondering if the crowds would be the same or more for the Christmas party.

cgcw

12-06-2007, 05:53 PM

I kind of have to disagree with my friends regarding MVMCP. We enjoy going because the crowds are usually so much less than during the regular park hours. We went this year (guess with who?? ;) ) because we had one night to spend in the parks. I didn't mind spending the extra $$'s because I knew my kids would have fun on the rides. We don't do parade and if we see the fireworks, it's usually because we see them on the run, not that we take the time to actually sit and watch them. Especially this year, I wanted to make sure that my DS7 was able to ride Space Mountain as I heard it's going to be changed/revamped. Whether that's true or not, it's one of his favorites and right now, we don't know when our next WDW trip will be.

We didn't make it very long as we had a big week on the cruise and I had enough of my DS7's attitude for the night. We left just as the fireworks were starting. But we were able to ride most of what we wanted to ride without much of a wait. Being we were in a big group, that made it even more fun!

Maybe I would feel differently if we had spent a week down in WDW or if we were going to spend a couple more days doing the parks. Part of my opinion is based on being at WDW for just that one night.

I guess that's what makes the world go around, we all can do the same thing and have different opinions of it. I do think if it's something you haven't done before, it's worth giving it some thought.

Diana Lyn

12-06-2007, 06:23 PM

alikat99

12-06-2007, 06:53 PM

alikat99

12-06-2007, 07:04 PM

Amy we are going 20th-27th staying at the Grand Floridian. We booked this before we were DVC members and decided not to change it. We are going to the Christmas party on the 21st. I hope we enjoy because we have heard good and bad about it. It is cold here today only got up to 33. I'm praying for warm weather while were down there.

Lissa
Maybe we'll see you around the world before we leave. If you see the girls, stop us, right away and say HI!!! We'll be staying at the new AKL villas, and I'm sure that the girls are going to LOVE it!!! I just want to relax and enjoy a few days away from work, school, stuff and just chill out!!!

We're thinking that we might even venture off property to go to see ICE! at the Gaylord Palms. We've never gone in all the years that they've had it, so I think that it would be fun. And heck, what's 9 degrees for this Floridian?!?!?!??! :scared1: :scared1:

alikat99

12-06-2007, 07:07 PM

Last night we went to Epcot for dinner at the Garden Grill and to see the Candlelight Processional. Monique Coleman was the narrator and my daughters are HUGE High School Musical Fans. The show was beautful and I was so happy we went. After dinner we walked around World Showcase and listened to the Christmas stories of Mexico, Norway and Germany before getting in line. We did the 8:15 show and walked out and took a spot on the bridge to watch Illuminations with the special holiday ending. Amazing. I have to say, last night at Epcot was way better for us than MVMCP and it didn't cost us anything extra (besides dinner) to go there.
OK, I am SO glad that you guys had fun last night!!! It seems like we haven't talked in forever (even though I know that's not the case)!!!:rotfl2:

alikat99

12-06-2007, 07:10 PM

I guess that's what makes the world go around, we all can do the same thing and have different opinions of it. I do think if it's something you haven't done before, it's worth giving it some thought.
Oh, NO WAY sister!!! I'm with Diana, I just can't be friends with you anymore, since you don't agree with ME!!! :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Actually, I think that a lot of it has to do with the ages of children. Emily (who is 6) had no problem staying up late, and actually wasn't really that cranky or anything. But, being that Madison is only 3, she fell asleep during the fireworks. So, maybe once Maddie is 6, we'll go again and give it a try.

cgcw

12-06-2007, 08:26 PM

Well I guess we can't be friends anymore. I'm only friends with people who agree with me.
:p

Oh, NO WAY sister!!! I'm with Diana, I just can't be friends with you anymore, since you don't agree with ME!!! :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Nice try, but you two can't get rid of me that easily. :rolleyes1

If I were to list the difference between us, there would be more of them than there are things we probably have in common. Gosh, to just name one, both of you now live in FL and think that's it's cold down there. :sad2:

You should visit here and suffer through a real winter. Hey, wait, wasn't it just a year ago this weekend that you tried to come up to Chicago but that nasty snow storm side tracked you to Indy instead.

alikat99

12-07-2007, 05:07 AM

You should visit here and suffer through a real winter. Hey, wait, wasn't it just a year ago this weekend that you tried to come up to Chicago but that nasty snow storm side tracked you to Indy instead.
We both have suffered through MANY nasty winters, and I have NO desire to do it any more. THAT'S what I moved to Florida!!! :thumbsup2 Well, and to live near the mouse!!!:banana: And yes, this was the same weekend last year that we went up to Chicago. What an adventure that was, but the girls LOVED the snow. And, coincidently my grandmother called me yesterday morning, asking when we were coming up next. But sadly, no "great" deals to Chicago this winter!!!:confused3

DisneyZell

12-07-2007, 06:12 AM

Thanks everyone for the opinions...I like hearing the good and the bad! We probably will end up doing it b/c my kids are night owls and we would do it for the rides...my husband is not the parade type, so we skip that altogether anyway. Alikat99, I don't blame you at all for moving to Florida...we have only been in New Hampshire for 3 years, but I came from California and miss the warm weather. I wish I could skip the winter and go right to summer!

tinkerbell_29

12-08-2007, 03:47 PM

Amy lucky you staying at the AKL villas. I wish that is where we were staying but when we tried to switch resorts they were already full at least for points they were and if were going to pay cash we might as well stay at GF. If I see the girls I'll say hi if not have a great trip!
Lissa

tinkerbell_29

12-18-2007, 03:20 PM

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone! We are leaving tomorrow for WDW. Yeah! Just think this time next year will be getting ready for the cruise.

Lissa

alikat99

12-18-2007, 03:25 PM

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone! We are leaving tomorrow for WDW. Yeah! Just think this time next year will be getting ready for the cruise.

Lissa
Hey Lissa - we'll be heading over there in just an hour or so (have to finish packing!!!). Maybe we'll see you there, and like I said, if you notice the girls, say HI!!!

nzdisneymom

12-20-2007, 08:06 AM

For those of you spending the holiday at WDW, say Hi to Mickey and Minnie for us -- just think about all those poor families next year at WDW who will be expecting to see Mickey and Minnie and the gang but they won't be there because they'll be sailing with US!

So does tomorrow start 52 week count-down til we leave to get on the ship? I need to find me a count-down thing for my sig.

MrsMunchie

12-25-2007, 07:24 PM

Hi Everyone! Merry Christmas!!! :santa:

I just joined DISboards and this is my very first post. We just made our reservations for the 12/20 Magic cruise last week and surprised the kids with the news today! This will be cruise #3 for DH and I (we just got back from the 12/8 Eastern where we celebrated our 10th anniversary....without the kids). We went on a 3 night cruise on the Wonder in May 2006 and were hooked!

Just a little info about us:
Me - Shirley, pediatric home care nurse
DH - Justin, Configuration manager, aka computer geek :laughing:
DS - Joseph, age 10 in August
DD - Audrey, age 8 in June :cutie:

We live in PA. We've been DVC members since 2005, SSR and VAK.

I'm really looking forward to getting to know all of you as we anxiously await our Christmas cruise!

Shirley

nzdisneymom

12-25-2007, 08:09 PM

Shirley - Welcome! We hope you'll continue to "earn your ears" here on the DIS with us! I can't believe our trip is in less than a year now.

I'm Cindy D., wife to Gary, mom to Nathan and Zachary (the n and z who make me a NZDisneyMom). Our boys do not know about this trip yet and I hope I can contain myself for another 360 days :)

Looking fwd to getting to know you.

Diana Lyn

12-26-2007, 06:07 AM

Welcome Shirley!

I'm Diana. DH is Bruce and DDs are Emma (4) and Julia (3). We live in FL and now that Christmas is over, we're really looking forward to this cruise!!

Merry Christmas to All!!

alikat99

12-26-2007, 06:20 AM

:welcome: Shirley!! We're glad that you made it here!! Now that Christmas is over, I'll be looking forward to counting down this cruise!!

I'm Amy, my DH is Chris and we have 2 little girls, Emily who will be 7 on the cruise, and Madison who will be 4. We'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary on this cruise (our anniversary is actually 12/19), and we're even considering a vow renewal.

This will be our 6th DCL cruise, my 7th as I have a trip with my sister and my mom scheduled for 8/31/08 for my sister's 30th birthday.

I can't wait to see any trip reports from the Christmas cruisers now, and then make our plans. Since we have lots of kids, I think that it would be fun to do little stockings & treats for all the kids. Oohh, ideas just swirling around in my head!!!

Well, back to cleaning up from this Christmas!!!:santa:

cgcw

12-26-2007, 07:34 AM

:welcome: Shirley!!

I'm the other Cindy on this thread who is married to the other Gary. :rotfl2: We have 2 boys who will be 8 & 14 when we sail. This will be our 1st 7 night cruise on the Magic. We've done two other 4 night cruises on the Wonder and a 7 night on Royal Caribbean.

We are looking forward to doing something different for Christmas next year. :santa:

MrsMunchie

12-26-2007, 08:07 AM

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who likes to plan things so far in advance. DH thinks I'm crazy.

I'm planning on hitting the after-Christmas sales today to see what kind of goodies I can find for next year. I guess I'd better get moving before all the good stuff is gone!

Lynne Y.

12-26-2007, 09:58 AM

We will be cruising for the week of Chanukah and Christmas. We live in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are DVC members at Saratoga Springs and plan to go there for the first time after the cruise. There are three of us, including our son who lives with severe disabilities and loves Disney. Justin will be twenty-nine when we cruise. We have an accessible cabin on the deck seven. This will be our fourth cruise with Disney.

cgcw

12-26-2007, 10:26 AM

:welcome: Lynne

It sure looks like several of us are DVC members. Amy, Diana & I met on two of the Member Cruises. It truly is a small world. :cool2:

Diana Lyn

12-26-2007, 11:55 AM

I'm not entirely sure the Magic is big enough for two Cindy and Garys!!! :lmao: ;)

Welcome Lynne!!! It looks like our little group is growing and soon we'll be planning the fun!!

nzdisneymom

12-26-2007, 02:10 PM

Hi Lynne - welcome to you and your family! We are so excited to be gaining more and more DISers for our holiday cruise! Has anyone counted how many DIS families we have on-board so far?

We're also SSR owners.

alikat99

12-26-2007, 04:12 PM

alikat99

12-26-2007, 04:13 PM

Oh, and isn't it great that our countdowns are now at the "months" mark, and not years!!!

cgcw

12-27-2007, 06:01 AM

Ok, I did it! I updated my very first post in this thread with all of the DISers that have posted and their families that they have listed. I will try to keep the first post in our thread updated with all of the info that I can. :thumbsup2

Thanks, Amy.

It looks like the group is growing. I was actually surprised to see how many are cruising for Christmas next year. :santa:

nzdisneymom

12-27-2007, 07:42 AM

Amy - thanks for updating the list of DISers for us! And now that we're down to "months" I think I'm gonna go get me one of them there count-down thingies. But then maybe I had better not in case the boys are reading over my shoulder one day and notice it in my sig on another thread.......... decisions, decisions!

I'm heading out to the dentist in a few minutes -- I may be getting some $$$$ dental work for my New Years gift - ugh. Wish me luck (in not needing it).

ShannonR

12-27-2007, 05:13 PM

I'm Shannon, and along with Rick (DH), we have Morgan (DD15), Mitchell (DS12), and Melissa (oops! DD3:cutie: ).

This will be our second 7 day Western cruise. I haven't posted in a while because we have been so busy at work with the babies who decided that Christmas was a great time to be born:santa: :laughing: :santa: :laughing: . Personally, being a December baby myself, I think it is cruel to have your child at this time of the year (you always get that birthday/Christmas gift when your a kid:sad1: ). Then I became a labor and delivery nurse and realized that 95% of babies are NEVER planned, so the time of the year that they are born is just luck of the draw, right?:rolleyes:

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Now we can REALLY get to planning for this cruise!!!:yay: I already have a "things to purchase list" started, but not quite as long as last cruises. I found we didn't use nearly half of the things we packed.:sad2: With all the kids that will be on this trip maybe we can do something along the lines of secret santa, etc... I love to plan events, parties, fun things to do (a little OCD, right:confused3 ).

Does anyone have big plans with ringing in the new year? I hope everyone has a great one, and we have lots to plan in the months to come!:woohoo:

Shannon

nzdisneymom

12-27-2007, 05:57 PM

Dang-nabbit-- the dentist says I have a root canal in my immediate future. Ugh.

Diana Lyn

12-27-2007, 06:41 PM

.Personally, being a December baby myself, I think it is cruel to have your child at this time of the year (you always get that birthday/Christmas gift when your a kid:sad1: ).

Hey, I resemble that remark!!! :lmao: Being a Christmas bday girl can be tough, but I have to say my parents did a great job trying to make it a separate event. Apparently they started making threats pretty early in my life and no one ever tried to even wrap the bday presents in Christmas paper. The bonus is, you always had all your family show up right on your bday to celebrate with you.

So speaking of planning for the cruise---who's up for a birthday party next Christmas night? party:

Diana Lyn

12-27-2007, 06:43 PM

Dang-nabbit-- the dentist says I have a root canal in my immediate future. Ugh.

Aww, that's too bad.

I despise going to the dentist. So much that when I was pregnant with each of my DDs, I broke a tooth, and each time they put on a temporary filling b/c they didn't want to do extensive dental work while I was pregnant. I STILL haven't gone back for the two crowns and my kids are 3 and 4!!

ShannonR

12-28-2007, 07:22 AM

So you're a fellow Christmas baby, Diana? Just food for thought. Last week a friend of mine gave me my "birthday" present. The "birthday" bag (it was a Christmas bag) was filled with a pair of Santa socks, a Christmas sweatshirt and eggnog flavored hot cocoa mix:sad2: :sad2: :sad2: . I gave it back to her and told her to present it to me as my "Christmas" gift and I would gladly accept it!:laughing: She knows how I feel on the subject, hence the gift:rolleyes: . What a friend, right?:laughing:

Also, you will be glad to know that I LIVE at the dentist. I have a diet coke addiction, and because I do, it has worn down the enamel on my teeth. They are are so soft that they break on bread, ha! ha! I have very few of my own teeth left, my entire mouth is made up of beautiful, white, porcelin (sp?) veneers and bridges. But it has been a small price to pay, I think to keep chugging my diet coke;)

I would love to have a birthday party for all us December babies!!! It can be one more thing to plan! Is it just you and me or are there other December birthdays as well?

Everyone have a great day!
Shannon

alikat99

12-28-2007, 07:28 AM

We most definitely will be having a birthday party!! And, we want to have a big anniversary party too!! So, it'll be parties all around!!!

MrsMunchie

12-28-2007, 07:34 AM

Cindy D. - Sorry about the root canal, dental work is never fun. If it makes you feel any better, I had one not long ago and it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I was only bedridden for a week...only kidding. :rotfl:

Shannon - I love the idea of doing a secret santa. I didn't find anything good on my shopping trip, but oriental trading has some great stuff on sale.

My daughter just about fell over with excitement :woohoo: when I told her I was talking to people who would be on the cruise and she could email girls her age and make friends before we go. If there's anyone out there with a girl who will be about 8 when we sail, Audrey would love to have a pen pal. (FYI: I monitor all email too)

Shirley

MrsMunchie

12-28-2007, 07:41 AM

My husband has a birthday on the 20th and has been whining about having to fly that day. I'd love to help plan a birthday party! Maybe that will cheer him up.

alikat99

12-28-2007, 07:51 AM

Wow, lots of celebrations on this cruise. Our 10th anniversary is on the 19th, but we'll be celebrating on board, since that's the whole reason that we're on this cruise. Plus, Diana's Christmas birthday!!!:banana:

nzdisneymom

12-28-2007, 08:06 AM

alikat99

12-28-2007, 08:14 AM

Shannon - I love the idea of doing a secret santa. I didn't find anything good on my shopping trip, but oriental trading has some great stuff on sale.
I saw the same thing, and was considering getting a few things to add to all the kids "stockings" on the cruise.

My daughter just about fell over with excitement :woohoo: when I told her I was talking to people who would be on the cruise and she could email girls her age and make friends before we go. If there's anyone out there with a girl who will be about 8 when we sail, Audrey would love to have a pen pal. (FYI: I monitor all email too)

Shirley
Emily will be 7 on the cruise. She's still pretty new to email (and reading for that matter), but if no one else comes forward that is closer to Audrey's age, I'm sure that Emily would love to chat with her!!!

alikat99

12-28-2007, 08:17 AM

Amy - do you think you could add "celebrations" to the Who's Cruising list on the first post? That way we can keep up with who is celebrating what (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) ... I know I would like to know so that when I'm planning my fish-extender goodies that I'll be sure to pack some Santa Socks for Shannon :rotfl: :rotfl2:
I most certainly can!! For sure I know about my anniversary, Diana's birthday, Shannon's birthday, and Shirley's DH's birthday. I know the dates of everyone but Shannon's birthday.

And speaking of fish-extenders, who was it that was talking about trying to make some? I'm still serious about buying one... you can contact me by PM if you'd like...
That was me!! Let me get done with some of this holiday stuff, and then I'll see if I can put together a "prototype" to see how it looks.

ShannonR

12-28-2007, 02:54 PM

Amy- My biological birthday is December 14th:santa: (the one I celebrate in my mind is June 14th with a Pina Colada on the beach and not a holiday in sight, Ha!Ha!).

This is all SOOOO exciting!! So many things to look forward to! And yes, I had better receive plenty of Santa socks:rotfl2: ; my birthday would NOT feel complete without getting a few pair of those:rolleyes: . Oriental trading is great idea for secret Santa stocking stuffers!! Morgan gets that catalog every month in the mail and she LOVES the little things in it starting Halloween time! We have ordered from them quite a bit actually. Hobby Lobby is starting to have more and more little crafty things each year that could pass as stocking stuffers also!

I can't wait to see "the list" of all of the DISers. Mitchell will be excited to have boys his age on this cruise. The last cruise there were ZERO boys his age and he felt left out while Morgan e-mailed the girls before hand and hung out with them while on the cruise. Let me know as soon as we can the e-mailing started and these older kids can start getting to "know" each other.

And Melissa:cutie: is going to have playmates too! She will be 4 at the time of the cruise and will be able to play with your girls, Diana! Last cruise she was only 2 and didn't get to do anything:sad1: so she just hung out with boring ol' mommy and daddy.

This cruise is shaping up nicely, ladies. HO!HO!HO!
Shannon

alikat99

12-28-2007, 03:11 PM

Amy- My biological birthday is December 14th:santa: (the one I celebrate in my mind is June 14th with a Pina Colada on the beach and not a holiday in sight, Ha!Ha!).
I can understand that! My actual birthday is July 18th, but I always wished that it was during the school year when I was growing up, because I never got to spend it with friends, because we were always out for summer break.

Isn't it funny how we always want what we don't have. Kinda like the whole - if you have curly hair, you always wanted straight hair. :confused3

I can't wait to see "the list" of all of the DISers. Mitchell will be excited to have boys his age on this cruise. The last cruise there were ZERO boys his age and he felt left out while Morgan e-mailed the girls before hand and hung out with them while on the cruise. Let me know as soon as we can the e-mailing started and these older kids can start getting to "know" each other.

And Melissa:cutie: is going to have playmates too! She will be 4 at the time of the cruise and will be able to play with your girls, Diana! Last cruise she was only 2 and didn't get to do anything:sad1: so she just hung out with boring ol' mommy and daddy.
Oh, I think that all the kids will have plenty of friends to "hang-out" with, even the little ones. Since we're cruised a couple of times before together with Diana & Cindy (cgcw), all of our kids are good friends already. And, Melissa can hang out with Emma, Julia & Madison and I bet that they'll all have a good time on the cruise.

Hey Diana - since Emma will be 5 on this cruise next year, will she be hanging out with Emily in the 5-7 group, or will she want to stay with her sister in the 3-4yr olds???

alikat99

12-28-2007, 03:14 PM

Oh, and if anyone wants to see the "list" of all of the current DISers on our cruise, just check out post #1 of this thread, and they're all there!!!

Diana Lyn

12-28-2007, 03:37 PM

Hey Diana - since Emma will be 5 on this cruise next year, will she be hanging out with Emily in the 5-7 group, or will she want to stay with her sister in the 3-4yr olds???

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say if there's a choice between Emily and Julia---Emily is gonna win and Emma will be with the 5-7 year olds. :lmao:

alikat99

12-28-2007, 03:41 PM

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say if there's a choice between Emily and Julia---Emily is gonna win and Emma will be with the 5-7 year olds. :lmao:
Ooohhh, you know that Emily is going to be THRILLED that her friend Emma will get to go with her in the 5-7 group!!! And, Madison and Julia will have fun in the other group.

alikat99

12-28-2007, 03:43 PM

Ok, and I don't know if anyone else is as excited as I am, but I can't wait to see if anyone posts any trip reports from this years Christmas cruise. They'll be getting off tomorrow morning, and I really want someone to post how their cruise was.

Diana & Cindy - I did see that Roxann is on that cruise, so I'm hoping that she'll give us some scoop!!!

DisneyZell

12-30-2007, 03:58 PM

Hello again everyone. I haven't looked here for the last week, so I am just getting caught up now. I have been out hunting for all the bargains for the last two days...Target is now at 75% off!!:santa: We love the idea of little stockings, etc. for the kids or secret santas. I love that stuff. I also have a celebration for the cruise. My actual birthday is Dec. 29, so we'll be getting off two days before, but we have to celebrate on board! I did not like having a "Christmas" b-day either...I finally taught my mom that I was NOT to have xmas wrapping paper on my b-day gift. Everyone still laughs about that! The whole "combo" gift didn't go over well either. Anyway, we are getting so excited about the cruise. Last week I kept telling everyone that in one year, we'll be on the Disney cruise!

Deanna

tinkerbell_29

12-30-2007, 04:08 PM

Hi everyone!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a great time at WDW but I'm exhausted. My mom had a great B-day while we were down there. I'm not sure how I'll top it next year not sure if I even want to try. Can you do anything special on the ship for a birthday? The whole time we kept talking about how this time next year will be on the cruise and how it will be much more relaxing. Off to read the last few pages of post so i can catch up.

Lissa

alikat99

01-01-2008, 08:01 AM

:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
party: :jumping1: party:

Diana Lyn

01-01-2008, 08:47 AM

party: Happy New Year!! party:

ShannonR

01-01-2008, 08:57 AM

I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve! We are now officially into 2008 and can begin our countdown to 12/20/08:banana: .

Did anyone go to any good parties last night? We were all in bed and asleep by 10 p.m. How exciting are we, right?:woohoo:

I was reading up on fish extenders and I saw the picture of yours, Amy. It looked great!! I am NOT a sewer, but I think over a year's time, I can put something together:rolleyes: . I can't wait to start collecting little gifts to place in them!

I hope everyone has a great day! It's 70 degrees and sunny here in the very south of Texas, but extremely windy!

Happy New Year!
Shannon

tinkerbell_29

01-02-2008, 10:56 AM

Happy New Year everybody! School was supposed to start back today but it snowed. Yeah a snow day! Gives me a chance to work on some lesson plans. Besides who doesn't like an extra day of vacation.
Amy would you add my mom, Nancy, b-day to the list of celebrations. It is the 17th but we hardly ever get to celebrate before the 22nd. Hope everyone is having a good day.

Lissa

MrsMunchie

01-03-2008, 03:42 PM

Hi Everyone,

I've been thinking about the fish extenders and I decided to admit that I'm pretty good at sewing :blush: and I happen to have a sewing machine that does professional quality embroidery. So, if anyone is interested, I can work on a pattern and make personalized fish extenders for all of us. I'd have to charge a little bit for them since all the supplies can add up. I know others have mentioned making them as well, we could always work together if you'd like. Let me know what you think.

Shirley

nzdisneymom

01-03-2008, 04:25 PM

Happy New Year!

Here's what we've been up to these last few days...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1671622

theodorechipmunkluvr

01-03-2008, 07:41 PM

Hi i am 13 my nam is Rachel and we are thinking we are going on this cruise! WOO HOO! I will be with dfather dmom dbrother(will be 7) and me! yayayyayayya anywho i want some person to hang with and brother wants one to so feel free to pm me! WOO cant wait. !

stillwater

01-04-2008, 09:54 AM

Just found this thread today. We did the Christmas 2007 cruise -- our first-ever cruise -- and loved it so much we booked this one onboard.

It's me, Becky, my husband John and our girl-boy twins Anna and Alexander, who'll be 13 at the time of the cruise (actually they'll be a month away from 14).

Any questions about the Christmas cruise, I'll try to help.:santa:

GotDisney?

01-05-2008, 05:17 PM

We are also on a special 7-Night Caribbean Cruise to Costa Maya/Double Dip cruise, but will be sailing 22-29 Nov 2008.

I've asked the other two special 7-Night Caribbean Cruise to Costa Maya/Double Dip cruises (27 Sept and 25 Oct) to post copies of the Navigator, etc upon their return. I'm sure someone will take care of us, but if they haven't us Double Dipping Traveling Turkeys will make sure we post something for y'all.

nzdisneymom

01-05-2008, 06:32 PM

A great big WELCOME to those just joining us! We're glad you found us. You can get to know us by looking in the first post of the thread to see who all is sailing.

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 12:19 PM

alikat99

01-06-2008, 12:29 PM

Hello everyone!! I hope everyone is doing well and is having a great weekend!

Since it is January 6th and I live in the VERY south of Texas (only 10 minutes from the border) the majority of the population in the valley in Spanish speaking only Hispanics (don't worry, even though I am a 100% Irish bred, red-headed white girl, I am also 100% bilingual and find the Hispanic culture fascinating :lovestruc ). Today is the day of the Three Kings or El Dia De Los Tres Magos/El Dia De Los Reyes, depending on who you are talking to. It is, to some, more important than Christmas:santa: . I personally love all the great food and celebration that goes along with today's festivities, but I have yet to be the lucky one to bite into the little plastic baby that is hidden in the cake (anyone who is familiar with the day of the Three Kings knows what tradition I am taking about;) ).

Did everyone purchase their airline tickets through DCL, or are some of you finding your tickets on your own:confused: . Last cruise we got our tickets through DCL, but we weren't happy with the prices and/or the times we had to leave/arrive on either day, so we are going to try doing it ourselves this time. I hope it works out okay and we don't regret just making it a part of our package.:confused3 . I think Rick said we can start pricing the tickets at the end of January. Time seems to be moving so slow right now, but I remember feeling the same way last year and then boom, it was here!:woohoo:

Hope to talk to everyone soon!
Shannon
My husband's family is from San Antonio, so we know about 3 Kings Day. Plus, I grew up outside of Chicago, where there's a huge hispanic population.

Here, on this side of FL, we have a big greek community, so for us, the big celebration is epiphany, where the teenage boys get to jump into the (freezing cold) water to retrieve a cross. It is said that the one who retrieves the cross gets good luck for the year.

No flying for us! :banana: It's only a 2.5 hr drive over to the other coast of Florida. But, we'll actually head over to WDW on the Friday night before (12/19) and then get up on Sat morning and head over to the port. Then, it's only an hour drive, and I don't have to worry about the girls asking "are we there yet???".

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 12:44 PM

You are sooo lucky Amy! I would love to be able to live that close to
WDW and/or the port:love: . Do you go to WDW a lot? I bet your girls just LOVE it!!

Have you ever been luck enough to get the plastic baby in your cake? Is Greek food as fantastic as Mexican food? Really, the only other kind of food you can find down here is Chinese and I don't have a taste for it, so it's pretty much Mexican food or American food, and lucky us we love them both:lovestruc . I went to a Greek wedding years ago and it was beautiful!:bride: But I have to admit, that has been my one and only exposure to any Greek culture, because I wasn't able to go to the reception (I had to work that night:sad1: ).

Talk to you soon
Shannon

alikat99

01-06-2008, 12:55 PM

You are sooo lucky Amy! I would love to be able to live that close to
WDW and/or the port:love: . Do you go to WDW a lot? I bet your girls just LOVE it!!
We usually head to WDW about once every 4-6 weeks. Sometimes it's just for the day, sometimes for the weekend. It really just depends on our schedule. Thankfully, we live close enough to enjoy it a lot. But, our families think that we're odd, because we're such huge Disney fans. Most of them live here too, they just don't enjoy Disney like we do.

Have you ever been luck enough to get the plastic baby in your cake? Is Greek food as fantastic as Mexican food? Really, the only other kind of food you can find down here is Chinese and I don't have a taste for it, so it's pretty much Mexican food or American food, and lucky us we love them both:lovestruc . I went to a Greek wedding years ago and it was beautiful!:bride: But I have to admit, that has been my one and only exposure to any Greek culture, because I wasn't able to go to the reception (I had to work that night:sad1: ).
No baby in my cake yet. We don't get to celebrate 3 Kings as much down here, since it's more of a cuban population (but I do LOVE cuban food). :woohoo:

Personally, I LOVE greek food. I've loved it since I was a girl, growing up in Chicago. Chicago is quite a melting pot of cultures, so I was exposed to a lot of different things at a very young age.

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 01:21 PM

tinkerbell_29

01-06-2008, 01:26 PM

Welcome to everyone that is new!!!!!
What a start to the new year we were supposed to start back to school on the 2nd and then it snowed. Supposedly tomorrow will be the first day of school but we will have to wait and see whther it rains or snows tonight.
As for flying or driving we are flying down using FF points on Delta. Were going to spend two days before and two days after at WDW. We are really looking forward to this cruise and iIm hopping time is going to fly by.

Lissa

alikat99

01-06-2008, 01:29 PM

Don't worry, Amy. It seems our whole world revolves around Disney and the looks we get from family and friends I could make a book out of:rolleyes: :sad2: :mad: :love: :lmao: :headache: (You name the look, we've seen it:laughing: ). We've just come to accept it, they've come to accept our obsession with Disney and life goes on:hug: .
Yeah, that's how our friends & family have become! They all know that we're Disney fans, and they also know that if they want to know anything about Disney, we're here for them!!! We've had several people ask us for opinions on WDW & DCL and even had a friend or 2 buy into DVC because of us. So, we don't mind being known as "that Disney family". :earsboy: :earsgirl: :earsgirl: :earsgirl:

I can't wait for Melissa:cutie: to meet your girls (they are both adorable, they look a lot alike. Do they get along?). She will be 4 at cruising time (her BD is May 26th) and she loves to play with kids her age. The last cruise she stayed with us and I felt she missed out on a lot. I am hoping for a lot more activity for her this time around!
For the most part, my girls do get along. Now, that being said, they are ready to go back to school, because they are starting to get on each other's nerves. They need a break from each other, all day, every day. Madison's birthday is April 28th, when she'll turn 4. So, Melissa and Madison are only 1 month apart in age.

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 01:41 PM

Amy, that is so funny that you should bring up everyone coming to your "Disney family" for advise, because that is exactly what happens with us:lmao: . Every time someone wants to plan a Disney vacation, etc...it's us they come to and I reply "so now it's okay that I like Disney so much, hunh;) ? I wouldn't trade my Disney vacations or my new found love for DCL for anything, though, so I will continue getting the strange looks, rollling of the eyes, and mumbles under the breath when Disney conversations comes up:laughing: . I wish we had something that closely resembled WDW here in Texas, I would be there all the time, no matter what looks I got!:woohoo:

That is great that our girls are so close in age!!! Do your girls go to preschool? We just put Melissa:cutie: in preschool this year, 3 days a week, for 6 hours each of those days and she loves it:lovestruc . She was getting so bored with the older two kids at school, and I had put the older in preschool at age 3, 4 and started them in kinder at age 5 so I guess it was time.

Shannon

alikat99

01-06-2008, 01:48 PM

That is great that our girls are so close in age!!! Do your girls go to preschool? We just put Melissa:cutie: in preschool this year, 3 days a week, for 6 hours each of those days and she loves it:lovestruc . She was getting so bored with the older two kids at school, and I had put the older in preschool at age 3, 4 and started them in kinder at age 5 so I guess it was time.

Emily turned 6 in October, so she's in Kindergarten. She's actually been at the same school since she was 3 (they go all the way through 8th grade). And, Madison started preschool this year. Actually, when we decided to keep Emily at our school (which is connected to our church), instead of going to our public schools, we decided that I needed to go back to work, at least part-time. So, I signed Maddie up for preschool, and low & behold, I ended up getting offered a part-time job at the girls' school. So, I work on the preschool side (elementary & middle are across the street), 5 days a week from 8:15 - 1pm, and both girls are in school. I love being where they are during the day, knowing that I can "pop" in to see them whenever I want.

nzdisneymom

01-06-2008, 01:56 PM

No flying for us, either, since we live close enough to drive down the day before. I do need to remember to get a hotel reservation for the night before - we stayed at the Radisson in 2005 but will likely try Country Inn and Suites this time as we like that chain of hotels and they are a little closer to the port.

It's back to work and school for us this week - this time next year will be even harder!

nzdisneymom

01-06-2008, 01:58 PM

double post - sorry

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 01:59 PM

That is great Amy! I have a friend who is a school nurse at her boy's elementary school and she loves it. She waited patiently for that opening and she took it to be closer to her kids! Her husband is an at home dad, just like mine, but now her children are being watched by their parents 24/7, as she likes to put it:laughing: . Unfortunately, her oldest goes to middle school next year, so she has to decide whether to stay where she is at with the younger one or try to transfer to the middle school with the older one:confused3 .

I am trying to get myself aquainted (sp?) to what the fish extenders are all about (we didn't do these with our last cruise DIS group, so this is all new to me;) ) and I saw yours on the thread dedicated to fish extenders. It's great! Did you make it, or buy it? I saw some of the ones that people have made and they are beautiful!! I am no where near that crafty and/or coordinated but I could easily buy one!:laughing: Are you going to use the same one for this cruise? Any suggestions as to where I could get one or how to make one EASY?

Shannon

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 02:09 PM

Welcome back Cindy!:) How was your trip to Vero Beach? Are you now starting the planning for your spring break trip to WDW/Wonder Cruise? This will be the first year in a long time that we have not gone anywhere for spring break.:sad1:

It cold in Florida right now? It is still pretty warm and sunny here in Texas, but my best friend and I have been talking lately about how windy it has been this year. I don't remember it being this windy for all the other years that I have lived down here, but this year has been horrible for the wind. She agreed and she has lived here all her life. Even with the wind, it is still better any day than the cold life I led while living in Michigan.:scared:

Shannon

nzdisneymom

01-06-2008, 02:16 PM

Welcome back Cindy!:) How was your trip to Vero Beach? Are you now starting the planning for your spring break trip to WDW/Wonder Cruise? This will be the first year in a long time that we have not gone anywhere for spring break.:sad1:

Thanks for the welcome back - we had a marvelous time at Vero Beach - it was so relaxing and I cannot recommend it highly enough for a place to go for some down-time. There were a few days we said that if they had had free food 24-hours-a-day it would've been like being on a cruise :) The rec-staff at VB is great - they threw a really fun NYE party that was on par with the DCL deck parties. They had various activities for the kids and adults to do and there was plenty of time for us to just relax in the room. Our balcony was bigger than our ship verandah.

And yes, we're in the gearing-up stage for our April cruise - I did all the online registration stuff this weekend so now we're just kicking back til mid-March when I go into major packing mode for spring break - several days at SSR and then the Wonder for three nights. It will be so fast but so nice.

After that we'll have a trip to DC in July that we've exchanged DVC points for and then we won't go anywhere til December unless it's a quick weekend to WDW. I still haven't blabbed to the kids about December - it will be harder once our other trips are out of the way. But I really really really want to keep it a surprise for them.

alikat99

01-06-2008, 02:29 PM

I am trying to get myself aquainted (sp?) to what the fish extenders are all about (we didn't do these with our last cruise DIS group, so this is all new to me;) ) and I saw yours on the thread dedicated to fish extenders. It's great! Did you make it, or buy it? I saw some of the ones that people have made and they are beautiful!! I am no where near that crafty and/or coordinated but I could easily buy one!:laughing: Are you going to use the same one for this cruise? Any suggestions as to where I could get one or how to make one EASY?
I bought that fish extender on eBay a few years ago. That's where Diana & Cindy got theirs too. But, that being said, I'm tempted to try to make a Disney Christmas one with some red/green/white fabric, and use my new/used embroidery machine with some of my Disney designs.

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 02:32 PM

I also forgot to tell anyone, IF and that's a really big IF you believe in this sort of thing, that if you were born in the year of the RAT, 2008 is the year of the RAT so this should be a good year for you.

My best friend is 100% into astrology of ALL kinds, but mostly the months and the Chinese year. I swear she lives her life by it. She will introduce herself to you, ask you your name then ask you for your entire birthdate to figure out your compatability to God know's what.:rotfl2: She is constantly cracking me up with this stuff. Some of what she says truly makes sense, but she bases EVERYTHING in life on it. I would say I ride the fence 50/50 in my belief of what she tells me:confused3 .

Anyone a RAT?:) I am a GOAT, whatever that means:confused3

Shannon

alikat99

01-06-2008, 02:36 PM

You're SO good to keep the Christmas cruise a surprise. I can't even imagine trying to do that. I gave in when Emily started begging to go back on the "Mickey boat". I told her that it wouldn't be until next Christmas and she was not happy at all. Then, she was concerned that Santa wouldn't know what to do with her presents. I did tell her that Santa wouldn't be bringing our presents to the Magic, but that I was sure that he would just leave them at home and we'd get them when we got home from vacation.:confused3

alikat99

01-06-2008, 02:38 PM

Anyone a RAT?:) I am a GOAT, whatever that means:confused3

:rotfl2: :rotfl2: Hello GOAT!!! Actually, I'm not even sure what I am!!!

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 02:39 PM

You would be my absolute idol, Amy, if you could make a Christmas/Disney fish extender with your new sewing machine:worship: . I would end up sewing my finger to the material if I even looked at a sewing machine. If I attempt to make anything, it will definitely have to be a non-sewing kind of project, otherwise I will have to buy one.:rolleyes: I don't have a crafty bone in my body, unfortunately and would find a way to ruin the sewing machine.:rolleyes1

I do, however, have some friends who ARE good sewers and maybe I could bribe them, to make me one.:lmao: They have such cute fabric at Christmas time with Disney print on it (even scrub tops that I could buy and cut up:idea: ).

Anyone else making one?
Shannon

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 02:49 PM

Well, Amy, all I CAN tell is what I have learned from Criselda. There are 12 years in the Chinese astrology (I don't even know what they all are, really:confused3 ) Some are better than others, of course, when it comes to patience or energy or love, etc... Mix that with your SIGN (Scorpio, Libra, Sagittarius, etc..) and that is WHO YOU ARE. I am a GOAT and a Sagittarius. Cris says that means I am lazy and obsessive/complusive. However, because, I am 100% Irish, that superceeds the Goat (she says this because I am an all go-no quit-all energy kind of gal). Are you confused yet, because I am and am most of the time when she talks to me about this stuff. Example: Pisces people are always laid back, like to sleep kind of people!?! Geminis are hot tempered!?! I could go on forever, but it makes my brain hurt:headache: so I will stop! I just smile at her and say okay:) . and agree with whatever it is she tells me (sort of the same as the Disney looks we get, wouldn't you say?:rolleyes: )

Shannon

Diana Lyn

01-06-2008, 03:06 PM

Wow, I have some chatty friends today!! :)

First off, Welcome to the newcomers! :welcome:

We spent the afternoon at the beach, so yes, it is warm again in Florida. 80 today and the sun is just gorgeous today. The water is like ice though but there were plenty of people in there swimming. I could hardly stand just dipping my toes in.

I'm really excited for this cruise, but we're cruising on the Wonder in just 34 days, so right now my mind is set on that.

BTW---I'm a rat. I know this b/c the placemats at the Chinese restaurant we used to eat at (You guys like Mexican and Greek, I LOVE Chinese food) had the Chinese Zodiac on it and I used to read it saying, man, what a crappy sign I get---the rat. I'm a Capricorn and the classic Capricorn traits fit me to a T. Practical and prudent, Ambitious and disciplined, Patient and careful, Humorous and reserved. On the dark side....Pessimistic and fatalistic, Miserly and grudging. I really don't believe in that stuff, but it's scary how that totally describes me! :scared1:

cgcw

01-06-2008, 03:08 PM

Whooah, who jump started this thread? There are pages to catch up on. :thumbsup2

We may end up driving, depending on what airfare we can get between here and there. Unfortunately, it's more than a couple of hours, more like about 18! :scared: :headache: :scared: It's been a while since we've drove down so we really can't complain too much.

No flying for us, either, since we live close enough to drive down the day before. I do need to remember to get a hotel reservation for the night before - we stayed at the Radisson in 2005 but will likely try Country Inn and Suites this time as we like that chain of hotels and they are a little closer to the port.

We stayed at the CI&S in November. It was very nice and clean. We booked a standard room and were pleasantly surprised when our friend had us upgraded to a kids suite. The boys had their own area, with bunk beds and a race car design jumping out of their wall. Here's a picture:
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f341/cgcwdvc/2007-11-18RCCLMarineroftheSeas025.jpg

We will probably also stay at the Port as I've already heard requests to have dinner at Grills again. We did that with our friends in November and my boys especially enjoyed the added attraction of the fishing boats coming in while we were there. Crazy as it seems, they loved watching the fish get cleaned as well as watching the pelicans waiting for a handout. Seeing the Magic & Carnival Glory head out on their voyage was just an added bonus. :) Thinking about it now, we might have to do that post cruise as we sail on the Magic on Saturday.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f341/cgcwdvc/2007-11-18RCCLMarineroftheSeas036.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f341/cgcwdvc/2007-11-18RCCLMarineroftheSeas034.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f341/cgcwdvc/2007-11-18RCCLMarineroftheSeas051.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f341/cgcwdvc/2007-11-18RCCLMarineroftheSeas052.jpg

I am almost finished working on my scrapbook for our November cruise so these pictures were very handy to post. :dance3:

cgcw

01-06-2008, 03:10 PM

Wow, I have some chatty friends today!! :)

You did not post that just 2 minutes before me. :lmao:

GMTA!!!

Diana Lyn

01-06-2008, 03:12 PM

Did everyone purchase their airline tickets through DCL, or are some of you finding your tickets on your own:confused: . Last cruise we got our tickets through DCL, but we weren't happy with the prices and/or the times we had to leave/arrive on either day, so we are going to try doing it ourselves this time. I hope it works out okay and we don't regret just making it a part of our package.:confused3 . I think Rick said we can start pricing the tickets at the end of January. Time seems to be moving so slow right now, but I remember feeling the same way last year and then boom, it was here!:woohoo:

Hope to talk to everyone soon!
Shannon

No flying for us either. We'll probably do like Amy is and drive up to Disney Saturday morning (about 1 hour and 15 mins) and stay the night and then head over to the port in the morning. too mutoo

Thanks for the welcome back - we had a marvelous time at Vero Beach - it was so relaxing and I cannot recommend it highly enough for a place to go for some down-time. There were a few days we said that if they had had free food 24-hours-a-day it would've been like being on a cruise :) The rec-staff at VB is great - they threw a really fun NYE party that was on par with the DCL deck parties. They had various activities for the kids and adults to do and there was plenty of time for us to just relax in the room. Our balcony was bigger than our ship verandah.

I read your trip report and loved the pics! Vero is definitely on our must do list very soon. We're heading up to Hilton Head this summer so maybe Vero next winter, after this cruise. Too many vacations to take, so little time!

cgcw

01-06-2008, 03:16 PM

I read your trip report and loved the pics! Vero is definitely on our must do list very soon. We're heading up to Hilton Head this summer so maybe Vero next winter, after this cruise. Too many vacations to take, so little time!

We're heading there too....in July.

I hope to see you there!! :cool1:

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 03:25 PM

Well, unfortunately, we live on the other end of the earth (okay it's only Texas, but it feels that way when its comes to getting to WDW:lmao: )so we have to fly and there are 5 of us so it can get pretty pricey. We will take our time and hopefully get the best deal.

We hope to spend a lot of time at South Padre Island this summer (about 1 hour away from us). We didn't go much last summer because of baseball, but hopefully we will have more time this year. The water stays pretty warm all year round which is nice for the kids!

Glad to hear we have a Rat is our group! Diana: This is your year, Ha!Ha! I hope all goes your way this year and you have good luck the whole year through! You won't get another year for another 12 so LIVE IT UP!!!! (I really don't know what I am talking about, but it sounded good, didn't it?:confused3 Cris would be proud:rotfl2: ).

The kids go back to school tomorrow, thank GOD!!! They are house crazy and half the school year is gone already, can you believe it?

Shannon

alikat99

01-06-2008, 04:04 PM

We will probably also stay at the Port as I've already heard requests to have dinner at Grills again. We did that with our friends in November and my boys especially enjoyed the added attraction of the fishing boats coming in while we were there. Crazy as it seems, they loved watching the fish get cleaned as well as watching the pelicans waiting for a handout. Seeing the Magic & Carnival Glory head out on their voyage was just an added bonus. :) Thinking about it now, we might have to do that post cruise as we sail on the Magic on Saturday.

We might be up for a post-cruise dinner at Grills. Since our actual 10th anniversary falls on that Friday night, I was hoping for a nice, adults-only dinner at a nicer restaurant. And, staying at WDW gives us the added bonus of the kids clubs on-site which Madison will finally be old enough for by then, so I can actually have that adults-only dinner.

alikat99

01-06-2008, 04:06 PM

We're heading there too....in July.

I hope to see you there!! :cool1:
OMG - ME TOO!!! It's like a little party at HH this summer, huh?!?!? :rotfl2:

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 04:47 PM

Well, I have to admit ladies, this has been an excellent day to chat with all of you!!!:thumbsup2 It was quiet day at home and I absolutely love to talk (DH says we would rich if there was a paid profession for it:lmao: ). Now it's time for dinner making, bath taking and getting-ready-for-school-tomorrow prepping. I will definately check back in later, though.

I hope we have many more of these days in the months to come:hug: .

Shannon

Diana Lyn

01-06-2008, 05:16 PM

Cindy, that room with the car looks SO cool. I have to admit, Country Inns and Suites is my hotel chain-of-choice. We've stayed at probably 5 different ones in the last couple of years and we've always had a great stay.

My kids don't go back to school until Wednesday, so I have two more days to keep them from killing each other. I need to find some more fun stuff to do around here. Amy even bailed me out this week with a visit to Chuck E Cheese.

cgcw

01-06-2008, 05:31 PM

Cindy, that room with the car looks SO cool. I have to admit, Country Inns and Suites is my hotel chain-of-choice. We've stayed at probably 5 different ones in the last couple of years and we've always had a great stay.

We had the "boys" room. Maybe you can get a picture from Gail of the "girls" version of the kids suite. Their room had maps of vacation destinations with the tourist attractions being supersized. It was very cool and so different than the room we had right next door.

My kids are back to school as well tomorrow. They were not happy campers getting up early this morning, as I knew if they didn't get up early, there was no way they were going to go to bed early tonight. Both are such night owls, it's not even funny. They should actually thank me for dragging myself out of bed early today to wake them. :worship: Somehow they didn't see the benefit of it all. :rotfl:

OMG - ME TOO!!! It's like a little party at HH this summer, huh?!?!? :rotfl2:

Amazing!!! I am very much looking forward to us getting together. Summer can't get here soon enough. :cheer2: At least today it's warmer here, a high of 57. Too bad it comes with rain and dreary skies. :( I hear thunderstorms are on their way the next couple of days. :umbrella:

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 06:41 PM

Diana Lyn

01-06-2008, 06:51 PM

Wow, Cindy, 57 degrees in January in Illinois is pretty darn warm! I can remember from all my years of living in Michigan, 57 degrees was considered to be a heat wave and we rode around with the windows rolled down!:rotfl2: Now, living in Texas all these years, 57 degrees might as well me 57 below zero because it's parka time at that temperature!:lmao: It has been it the 70's the last couple of days and EVERYONE (including us) have been in winter coats, hats, mittens, etc... It's amazing how fast you acclamate (sp?) to your environment, hunh? I remember the day we moved down here, it was 9 below zero in Michigan and 74 degrees in Texas. I was in heaven!!!:love: :love: :love: I have never been back from that nasty day in February, not even to visit. I am definately a warm climate person!

I hope the temperature stays that high for you and you a mild winter:cloud9:
Shannon

You're right, Shannon, you do acclimate very quickly. I've been here 3 months and when it was 50 the other day, I was screaming out how freezing it was outside and we bunkered down inside for the day. Now I still have the NY weather on My Yahoo Messenger window and noticed it was -4 there, I have no idea how I survived 34 1/2 years in those conditions! :lmao: I'm definitely a warm climate person too.

ShannonR

01-06-2008, 07:10 PM

That is so funny you should say that Diana, because my friends are always asking me, "how did you live in Michigan for 34 years". I always reply, "I was miserable each and every one of them. I should have moved south A LONG TIME AGO!!" I don't know about you, but my biggest joy now, even more than the warm weather, is the sunny days!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the sun:love: :love: :love: and in Michigan there was virtually NO SUN 9 months out of the year-just ugly, gray skies.:sad1: . So even if it is a little chilly out down here, at least there is the SUN!:)

On a side note: I was telling Amy earlier, I can't wait for Melissa:cutie: to meet hers AND your girls! She will 4 at cruising time and she loves to play with kids her own age! Her BD is May 26th and Amy's little Madison's is April 28th so they are really close is age!! I am hoping that Melissa will have more fun this time around on the cruise!!

Shannon

DisneyZell

01-07-2008, 08:52 AM

Wow, I missed a lot in just one day! I was 2 pages behind when I logged in this morning. I was busy putting Christmas decorations away yesterday, so wasn't able to check in. Shannon, we will be flying down as well and we always get our own tickets. I like to be more in control of my flights and I usually find better deals on my own. I haven't even thought about the flights yet, though. The schools here have not put out their calendar for next year, so I don't even know when my boys will be out of school. This year, they went back to school on Jan. 2, so they only had one week and 2 days off for vacation. Of course they do have the last week of Feb. off, so I think that is why it is so short. I am thinking of trying to make my own fish extender for the cruise so I'll let you know how it goes. If it comes out good, I'd be happy to make you one too. I am also looking at getting an embroidery machine, so I could do some great Disney pockets if that is the case. BTW, Nick has really enjoyed emailing with Mitchell. It sounds like they have a lot in common! I'm sure they'll have a blast on the cruise.

Diana Lyn

01-07-2008, 09:15 AM

On a side note: I was telling Amy earlier, I can't wait for Melissa:cutie: to meet hers AND your girls! She will 4 at cruising time and she loves to play with kids her own age! Her BD is May 26th and Amy's little Madison's is April 28th so they are really close is age!! I am hoping that Melissa will have more fun this time around on the cruise!!

Shannon

Julia will be 4 on Sept 30th so she's not much younger than Madison and Melissa. 3 4 year old girls banding together for a week on a cruise ship---I have a feeling we're gonna have our hands full! :lmao:

ShannonR

01-07-2008, 08:46 PM

Good evening ladies!:) Just got back from a Mitchell's baseball game (we lost:sad1: ) and can't believe how windy it is outside! I feel as if I have the field dirt permanently ground into my face and teeth.:laughing:

Mitchell has really enjoyed e-mailing to Nick too, Deanna! In fact, while I am checking in, he is taking a shower and he was sure to tell me, " make it quick, so I can check to see if Nick e-mailed me today";) I am glad he has found someone that he seems to have a lot in common with and that he will be able to spend time with on the cruise!:thumbsup2

Don't you worry Diana! Between you, Amy, and me (and maybe a few drinks:rolleyes: ) we should be able to handle three 4 year olds with NOOOO problem. And if worse comes to worse, we can always say, "maybe it's the daddy's turn to watch these 4 year olds for a while!":rotfl2:

Well, it's off to bed for me. Another early morning workday for me tomorrow! Everyone have a GREAT night and I will check back in tomorrow night!!!:flower3:

Shannon

tinkerbell_29

01-08-2008, 06:05 PM

Ok ya'll have been busy the past few days. Started back to work yesterday. My students were wild. I only have 11 but it felt like 111. We should have started back on the 2nd but it snowed and delayed us for three days. Now it is in the 60's go figure. We've talked about where to go before the cruise. I voted the port so we can be close to the ship. Mom and Matt voted for WDW so we can do the Candlelight processional before Christmas. They will probable win. Right now I'm trying to change our flights for August. We were going to LA now we are headed back to WDW. Long story but my part would be so much easier if they would make up their minds.

Lissa

ShannonR

01-12-2008, 07:12 AM

Good morning everyone. I haven't visited and/or posted lately because my ENTIRE house has been and is still sick with the respiratory flu.:sick: We are all just miserable and going to work has been a nightmare!:scared: The kids had to miss school yesterday because all their temperatures ranged from 101.1 to 103.7.:headache: I have just been in classes all this past week (including today) so it has felt like an eternity to get home and back in bed. Hopefully we will all be better by Monday!!!

How is everyone doing? I hope everyone is sliding into the new year with ease! We are almost done with this season of baseball (although Mitchell missed last nights game and will miss this morning's as well:sad1: ) and basketball starts next week. It's always something with him.:sad2: He loves it so much thought that we are more than happy to support him:love: .

Well, I have to go now and get ready for work. Monday I go back to nights and I can't wait!!! I am NOT a day worker, I get confused :laughing: :laughing:

Shannon

MrsMunchie

01-12-2008, 08:24 AM

Shannon, I hope you're all feeling better soon. Joseph is sending Mitchell an email (finally!), so make sure he looks for it. He thought it might make him feel a little better.

Shirley

alikat99

01-12-2008, 04:03 PM

BIRTHDAY PARTIES ARE DANGEROUS...TO YOUR DENTAL HEALTH!!!

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/alikat99/IMG_1655.jpg

Madison and I were at a birthday party today and Madison knocked out one of her front teeth!! Yes, her front tooth! They had one of those bounce house things and Madison had been in it all day. It was the very end of the party and Madison came out of the bouncy for a drink of water. After she drinks, she starts crying and says that she is missing her tooth. Sure enough, I look up and she's bleeding and her top, front, left tooth is completely missing. We ice and call the pediatrician. The service calls back and basically she needs to eat soft foods for a few days, follow up with the dentist on Monday and if she has pain take Tylenol. Because it's a baby tooth, there's nothing that she can do. So, here's her new toothless grin.

Oh, but she gets to do one thing before her sister - GET A VISIT FROM THE TOOTH FAIRY!!!

minnie1

01-12-2008, 07:31 PM

I have been looking for a board to post on that had a lot of people excited for this cruise. We just booked about a week ago and it is all I talk about :cheer2: . This will be our first Disney cruise and my kids first cruise ever. My dh and I have been on 3 cruises but never Disney. This cruise will be me, my dh, and two daughters: age 10 and 7 at time of the cruise. I am trying to get my brother, his wife and their son to go but no luck just yet.

We go to Disney World once or twice a year with DVC. This year we are going to Old Key West in August and then hopefully for New Years Eve after the ship gets back.

I look forward to getting to know all of you.:dumbo:

minnie1

01-12-2008, 07:33 PM

I am sorry I guess I should have put our names: Angie, dh Pete, dd Ashley(10 at cruise time), and dd Madison(7).

ShannonR

01-12-2008, 08:01 PM

Welcome Angie and family!:welcome:

I am Shannon and along with my husband Rick, we have three children: Morgan(DD14), Mitchell(DS11), and oops baby Melissa(DD3:cutie: ). We are also very excited to take this Christmas cruise:santa: . It will be our 2nd Disney cruise.

Madison still looks beautiful without her front tooth, Amy!!! She has the most gorgeous smile! Morgan had the same thing happen to her when she was 4 years old. She was at preschool and she was outside playing. She had on her new little black, patent leather mary janes. She slipped on the pavement and went flying into the rocks on the playground.:scared: She knocked out her two front teeth and when I came to pick her up, she was a bloody mess and her tights were all ripped to shreds. It scared me to death, because it looked a lot worse than what it actually turned out to be. Unfortunately, when she fell it just broke the teeth and she had to have the remained of the teeth removed by the dentist that same day. She remained toothless for the next TWO YEARS. Her adult teeth did not come in until she was 6 years old.:sad1: We felt so bad for her, she had a lisp for two years and she had to get used to having teeth again when they finally grew in.:rolleyes: Since that day, my kids have always worn rubber soled shoes to school, no matter if they matched the outfit or not. Thank God they were baby teeth, right Amy?

We are all still sick, and Mitchell is going to have to miss his last baseball game of the season. His fever did not break until 4pm and he is still so weak.:sick: I hope we don't just keep passing it around the house.:sad2:

Have a good night!!
Shannon

cgcw

01-12-2008, 08:11 PM

:welcome: Angie & Family. Add another DVC family on this cruise. Who needs to sail on a member cruise, we can create our own. :thumbsup2 We own at SSR, HH & recently purchased AKL. It seems like right now we have point overload as we have banked for the first time in the 7 years we have owned. Other than a trip scheduled for Hilton Head, we have no other plans for a WDW trip for this year.

Amy, Maddie sure seems proud to show off her toothless smile. princess: I suspect the Tooth Fairy will be good to her tonight.

Is Emily green with envy that Maddie gets to have a visit first? I bet this will probably be one of the only times she gets to have that spot in their lives. Emily will probably be working to loosen her teeth once she sees what the Tooth Fairy brings. :rotfl2:

Shannon, I hope you are all feeling better real soon! pixiedust:

nzdisneymom

01-12-2008, 08:19 PM

Angie - welcome! What an awesome first-cruise for your children! And an awesome first Disney cruise for you and your DH!

(edited to say that) I'm (the other) Cindy (since Cindy posted just ahead of me), wife to (the other) Gary (married to Cindy), mom to Nathan (12 1/2 at time of cruise) and Zachary (11 1/4 at time of cruise).

Amy - sorry to read about the accident, but yay for the tooth-fairy! The tooth fairy brings Disney Dollars to our house. Except when we were on the Med. cruise and Nathan lost a tooth, the Tooth Fairy brought him 5-euro. He was a little disappointed, but she asked Mickey to help her make it up. See what happened here (http://nzmommy.blogspot.com/2007/08/european-kids-get-euros.html).

Shannon - sorry you guys have sickness still.

minnie1

01-12-2008, 09:09 PM

Thanks for the welcomes! I am sure I will have lots of questions for all of you during the next 11 months since this our first time on Disney.
Angie

DisneyZell

01-13-2008, 02:27 PM

Hello everyone one, and again, welcome Angie and family. It is so good to get more people involved in our thread. We have been busy organizing our Christmas decorations and getting rid of stuff we don't use anymore. That sure is a project. At least we had a nice couple of days and the ice melted off of our roof so we could get our Christmas lights down. Of course tonight and tomorrow we are supposed to get 10 - 14 inches of snow again. I am so ready for the snow to be gone, and yet this is really only the beginning. I sure do miss the California weather! At least in a little over a month we will be down in Orlando for the kids Feb. break! Well, it's off to the grocery store before the snow actually starts. Hope everyone has a great week.

Deanna

tinkerbell_29

01-13-2008, 05:21 PM

Hi everyone and welcome Angie and Family! I've been busy trying to convince my brother that 13 nights at WDW is not the end of the world. He is not happy that we are not going to LA this summer. Oh well he is an adult and will have to get over it besides he should be happy mom still pays for vacations or neither one of us would go any where.

Has anyone looked at flights for December yet? I was trying to remember when we booked our flights for last Christmas but can't find what i did with all the paper work. We are going to book our own I don't like anybody else making arrangements for me I like to do all the planning.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!
Lissa

minnie1

01-14-2008, 02:31 PM

Diana Lyn

01-14-2008, 02:44 PM

Ok, here it goes. My first question of probably a million. I was reading some other posts and saw that DCL let you bring your own alcohol onto the ship. Is that still true or something they did away with? My dh and I just went on RCCL in October and we were not allowed.
Thanks for any information

Yes, I believe you can still take alcohol onboard. Last I knew, they required you to carry it on yourself though (like not in the bags you leave for them to deliver to your room). Also, they charge a corkage fee if you bring your own wine to drink with dinner. I've heard this can be avoided by just bringing a glass in yourself but I've also read debates on how this is tacky. But what isn't debated around here. I don't drink wine, so I've never experienced any of this firsthand.

alikat99

01-14-2008, 02:49 PM

I personally haven't brought on any alcohol, but only because we're not big drinkers (but all bets are off for a Christmas cruise). Anyway, I know of several people that have bought stuff onboard Disney. I would say that the biggest problem is that you need to hand carry it on the ship (you wouldn't want to pack it in your bags and have something break and ruin your clothes).

We'll probably bring some wine & champagne on this cruise, since it's our anniversary & Christmas & Diana's birthday!!! :banana:

Diana Lyn

01-14-2008, 02:54 PM

alikat99

01-14-2008, 02:59 PM

Ooooh---so we should save those 2 bottles of Dom and get a giant bottle of Pama. :idea:
Ooohh, that's right, sista!!! We definitely have to do that. And, if we're going away for a week, we might need to pick up even more!!! :rotfl2:

minnie1

01-14-2008, 04:39 PM

I have been reading all of your posts from when you first started this post a year ago. Took me a while but I finished. My dh calls me obsessive but I am so excited.:banana:
I saw you were talking about Dec. birthdays. We have two December birthdays in our family. I am Dec. 11th and my dd will be 8 years old on 12-29so I know what you were all talking about with the double gifters. I love the "Can I get you just one gift for birthday and Christmas".
Also, we are also a major Disney obsessed family. Actually my dh and I met while we were working in Fantasyland. I worked on Dumbo and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and he worked on 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. We also both worked in Tomorrowland in Space Mountain. After we got married he went on to work at the Yacht and Beach Club and I stayed home. We left Florida in 2001 and miss it so much that when we decide on a vacation every year we always say we should go somewhere else but always end up going back to Disney. That is why I am so excited to go on DCL.
My girls are so excited about this cruise and my older dd is so hoping to find a good friend. She will be 10 in July so if anyone has a daughter that would start talking to her before the cruise please let me know.
Anyway, enough about us.
Angie