20050514..May 14, 2005...Official Check in Disney's 1st 14 Day thru Panama Canal

[JenKatt]

Jindy we've added people after the fact. Your mom would get charged the price for being added now, but it would be the 3rd person price, which is much less

 

[jin diesel]

Thanks, Jen! I just transfered my reservation over to a TA last night. So I'll wait a day or so before I bug her.. LOL!!

 

[karaeric]

The teacher and I spoke last night she was totally fine with it!! She said that as long as I sign the "Independent Study" contract and DD gets her work done - the school gets their tax dollars, we get our vacation, the class gets to learn about something different and everybody wins!!


I'm happy I don't have to stress about this any more. Hopefully everything works out the same for all the other parents on this cruise... [/COLOR] [/B][/QUOTE]

Yay Jindy!!! So glad you got such good news! Hey, I sent you a PM a while ago, did you get it? It was my first attempt and not too sure I got it right...

Cheers, Kara

 

[karaeric]

RESERVATION QUESTION:
Has anyone had to ADD a preson to their stateroom since they made the initial reservation for this cruise back in May? My mom has expressed some interest in wanting to go, but I wonder if I can even add anyone now? Are you charged at the "tier" you booked at, or the going rate now? And since currently it is 1 adult, 1 child in my stateroom - if I add my mom does DD's fare go down??? Thanks to whoever may have answers...

I can answer part of the question...the first two people in a cabin are charged adult fare, so if you added your Mom, she could pay the adult fare and your DD's fare would drop to the child's price, saving you $$. Definitely would be a good thing for you and your Mom!

Hope that helps. If you want, I can put you in touch with my friend, the TA who could look into the fare difference for you. Let me know.

Cheers, Kara

 

[kpros]

Originally posted by karaeric
The teacher and I spoke last night she was totally fine with it!! She said that as long as I sign the "Independent Study" contract and DD gets her work done - the school gets their tax dollars, we get our vacation, the class gets to learn about something different and everybody wins!!


Kara

Just an FYI about school funding in California. General purpose funding is based on the number of days the child is actually in school. However, those days are only measured from the start of school to sometime in April (the actual end date differs depending on the start date of the school year). So, if a teacher told you that the school would not get tax dollars because you took your DD out in May is incorrect. They get the same amount of tax dollars for your DD as long as the time she missed is in May or June.

I hear this alot from teachers when kids are out in May and June. We took a cruise in May of 2003 so our DD missed several days (we did get her assignments to complete). A teacher (not one of her teachers) heard that we were taking her out of school for a few days and she got very huffy and said "you're taking money right out of my pocket". She didn't know that I worked in school business and know how California schools are funded.

During May, it is more important that you do an Independent Study contract so she doesn't get penalized for missing school work.

I've also found that most teachers understand when a travel opportunity comes up and will try to work the travel into a learning experience.

I work for the County Superintendents Office in Ventura County and work with school district budgets.

We decided to leave our DD (13) home for this trip because of the lenght of the cruise and the timing. May is generally when her state testing is done. She not happy about missing the cruise (but we are do the 10 day xmas cruise with her so she isn't missing out totally).

Ken

 

[jin diesel]

Hi Ken!! It was actually me that posted about my DD's teacher and school - Kara was just quoting me.

I had no idea that the districts "stop counting" after April. I don't know exactly how our district works as we start school the last week of August and get out for the summer in mid June. However, it is nice that they offer the "Independent Study" option for any kids that will be out of school for an extended period of time. Unfortunately, not all the school districts in our county do that - so I am definitely thankful our district does.

We also have our state testing up here in May. But (as far as I know) it is optional. No school can force the parents to force their kids to take the test (at least not up here), so your daughter doesn't really have to miss the cruise! They prefer that the kids that are going to score high stay and take the test, but once again - they can't force you. I think our testing takes place the first half of May so we should be safe...but if we miss them, oh well.

How hot is it in Ventura today???? We've been in the 90s the past few days. UGH!!

 

[kpros]

Jindy

While we feel that it is important for Staci to take the tests, we also are looking forward to going on the cruise alone. Staci has been on 3 other DCL cruises (it will be 4 after the Xmas cruise) so she really hasn't missed out on anything. This will be our first alone vacation since she was born.

It has been very hot down here. But the last few days have been better. It's overcast right now, so that is new and different.

Did you see the new Disney Store Catalog. Lots of NBC stuff.

Ken

 

[jin diesel]

Wow, Ken!! You guys deserve some time alone! Plus, the 10 day Xmas cruise is going to be awesome...

I did see the Disney catalog! We are going to DL in November and I am saving up to bring back a lot of NBC stuff to add to my collection.

We have a countdown going here at the office....

15 days till holidays collide at Disneyland...

 

[kpros]

Actually, I think we are going on October 24. It should be fun. I'm not sure how long they have been doing the NBC stuff at the Haunted Mansion, but I just saw it for the first time last year. Very cool.

Ken

 

[JenKatt]

You guys at DL have NBS, we have Food and Wine! The Food and Wine Festival at Epcot has been extended an additional 2 weeks this year due to demand. I can't wait. We've already palnned 3 trips up to go, the day before out Oct cruise, day after and one with Jeff's boss.....

 

[kpros]

JenKatt

Since you live so close to WDW and seem to spend a lot of time there, have you seen Iron Horse Faire Tale Cuvee for sale either in any of the parks or hotels? If so, do you know how much it is per bottle?

Any information is appreciated.

Ken

 

[JenKatt]

Ken,
I'm thinking they sell it during the F&W festival, I think I have seen it at the Contemporary. It's listed online via menus and such as $52 a bottle. If I remember when I go up this weekend, I will look.

Jen

 

[kpros]

Jen

If you have time, see if they sell it in any of the shops or stores. I've heard that it is less expensive there then if you purchase it in a restaurant or room service.

I'm trying to figure out a way to get 6 bottles to bring home with us after the xmas cruise (and not pay the on board price). And if it is available at WDW, I will make an effort to buy it prior to the cruise.

Thanks again for any info.

Ken

 

[JenKatt]

I'm almost 100% positive Gooding's has it. So if you can't get it at the stores, you should be able to get it there.

 

[kpros]

Jen

While I've been to WDW a couple of times, I have no idea what a Gooding's is. Help!!!!

Ken

 

[JenKatt]

Goodings is the supermarket across the street from the entrance to Downtown Disney. It use to be somewhat owned by Disney. It's a gourmet place, overpriced due to proximity to Disney, but does carry alot of Disney stuff. It's the only place you can get the Fess Parker Chardonney. So while most of the time it's more expensive than anywhere else, it's cheaper than WDW. It is within walking distance of DTD, but it's a bit of a walk.

 

[kpros]

Thanks Jen! I hope they have it.

 

[jin diesel]

Jen, what is the Food & Wine festival??? Sounds like fun!

Here's the official word from my TA. Our cruise is sold out, and although my cabin holds 3 people - right now I cannot add an additional person as the ship is at capacity.

So I will just have to wait and see and check back in March when/if people start cancelling.

If anybody hears different before me - please let me know! Thanks!!

 

[JenKatt]

Jindy, the F&W is simply nirvana. That's it. Nirvana (not the band either).

For 6 weeks from the start of October to mid November (use to just be October), Epcot holds the F&W. Many different things go on, but the jist is, there are approximatly 30-40 booths set up around the World Showcase lagoon featuring different countries/ areas of the world (i.e. Spain will have it's own booth, but Norway and such will fall under the Scandanavia booth). Each booth has sample size offerings of food from that area as well as beverages, usually alcoholic in nature, but not always (Mexico has it's watermelon juice and Florida will have frozen grapefruit juice). The cost for each sample of food is anywhere between $1 to $4. A 1oz sample of wine will be about $2-$4 about the same for beer. There will also be free classes and demonstrations throuhgout. There are special dinner parties and events throughout WDW at various resteraunts. Last year they had a wine walk-about featuring various wines from Australia. The year before that was a special exhibit about Andalucia Spain, before that was South Africa.
You can also get the recipes for almost everything you try. They will also sell the bottles of wine that you sample, which is pretty significant, since some of them are bottles you can't find in the states without selling your first born.
There is also a champagne booth, use to have chocolate with it, but last year the cognac booth had the chocolate. There's usually a California booth where I snag some awesome polenta. The Polish booth is quite popular, you can get eh pirogis there, but for Florida they're great. The Irish booth has this wiskey flan that is down right wrong when you have it with O'Mearas Irish Creme (IMHO it's better than Bailey's). What else?
They'll also have a beers from around the world as well as around the US. Since Budwieser stopped hosting the beer thing, there has been a push for microbrews which is good.
There are special shows throughout, you can get priorty seating with the dinner packages.
It's just amazing. It really is the best thing Disney does for it's adult fans at WDW. The Flower and Garden show is nice, Christmas is beautiful, NYE is fun, the F&W festival is all of the above.

Did I explain it enough?

 

[karaeric]

Originally posted by kpros
JenKatt

Since you live so close to WDW and seem to spend a lot of time there, have you seen Iron Horse Faire Tale Cuvee for sale either in any of the parks or hotels? If so, do you know how much it is per bottle?

Any information is appreciated.

Ken

Oooo! We love the Fairy Tale Cuvee...I even went to Iron Horse when up wine tasting in June. They won't sell it to you there. It's very interesting, they do a special "batch" just for Disney, don't even make extra and label it under their own label. Bummer, but I did find other sparkling wines there that I liked almost as much, and it's a BEAUTIFUL winery to visit.

Cheers, Kara