OMG!!! I had gotten so used to being on this thread by myself (and then just Gina and I), that I gave up checking it often and now I've come back to 10 pages!!!!
I actually started taking notes so I would remember who to reply to (I'm type A like several other people on here
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Florida Fun - We are definitely in for the FEE. I will PM you my gmail account so you can send me the Google doc link. I'm ordering our holder from Etsy but I am in LOVE with your pin board. Amazing stuff on there!! I'm a "copier" when it comes to crafts (not a creative bone in my body, unfortunately) so I love having so many ideas in one place!!!
Kimbo71 - I'm so excited you have a DD6 too! There were so many boys coming I was thinking my DD6 wouldn't have anyone to play with besides her sister.
I've cruised in February multiple times (our anniversary is 2/20) and the water at CC is usually in the 70's. It feels cold at first but usually warms up pretty quickly. When it's rainy out, the water feels warmer b/c the air is cold. Either way, if you've got one really sensitive to cold water, h/she probably won't like it at first. If you can convince him/her to go in for a bit, it will be fun; otherwise, bring lots of sand toys!
Also, my kids only ate dinner with us once on our last cruise (and we literally had to force the oldest one). They much prefer eating in the kids club. She even declined eating with us on pirate night this cruise!! I'll probably bring one or two dresses each (just cotton dresses, nothing fancy) but that's it. They didn't wear half of what I brought them last year. Also, Disney is changing up their transportation right now. Currently you can't take a bus directly from park to park. You have to go to a resort and then get on the park bus from there. The monorail works well from MK or Epcot. Hopefully they'll get it changed before we get there because that usually adds about 45 minutes to your travel time.
I<3Mickey - We don't do trip insurance. Many people think that's nuts but we're not sailing during hurricane season (we don't buy it then, either, though) and Disney is pretty good about taking care of people. This is my 8th cruise and I've never had an issue yet. *knocking on wood* Also, I saw you have some younger kids traveling with you! My youngest DD is 3 (or will be when we sail) so maybe the little ones can play together some.
jzandmeplus3 - The last time we went to Key West, my DH and I just walked around a bit and then got back on the ship. We watched the famous Key West sunset from deck 9 and loved it. I thought about doing the Conch train tour (we saw it while we were there last time) but it's too long for my kids to stay focused. I doubt we even get off the ship this year. As for the sales pitch at the spa, if you tell them at the beginning of the treatment that you're not interested in buying any products they'll skip the sales pitch. I've done that the past few cruises (I spend a LOT of time in the spa...my husband spoils me) and it's worked out nicely. I typically give them about $10 more gratuity to make up for lost revenue. Not sure if they get commission but it feels right to me.
I'm gold so we just booked all of our excursions. Ok, I say excursions but really I signed up for the 8:15 bus to MK and booked my spa treatments. I was bummed to see that our anniversary was pirate night (2/20) but I asked my DD6 if she wanted to eat dinner with us that night in her pirate costume and she said no, so Palo, here we come!
Both of my girls were pirates for Halloween this year so they would have good costumes.
We decided to do the 8:15 bus to MK because I wanted my DH to be happy and sleeping later makes him happy! We figured we'll make it to MK by 10 and will head straight back to Fantasyland. We're going to do lunch at Be Our Guest b/c it's cheaper and no PS required. After that, we'll probably spend a few hours touring the new attractions and then head back to the ship. The kids are too young to stay all day. I was bummed that Splash is going to be down since it's my favorite and DD6 is tall enough to ride this year. Oh well, next trip for sure!
Ok, this post is turning into a book so I'm signing off now. I'll be sure to check back more often so I can keep up with everything that's going one! So glad there are people to talk to now!