A WONDERful way to celebrate Independence Day! - Disney Wonder July 1, 2013

[comet1]

I've been looking into vacation insurance. Read that Allianz Classic plan is good. Not exactly sure what to look for. When to get it?? .

Who have you used and when did you buy? Any thoughts appreciated.

We have always used insuremytrip, usually Travel Guard Silver.

Unless you want pre existing conditions covered(you need to purchase within 14 days of initial payment) there is no need to buy before final payment is due as you can cancel anytime before then with no penalty.

Make sure you include airfare in the total per person when looking into prices.

 

[Mackie Mouse]

comet1 - Thanks for the info...and welcome to the thread! Feel free to introduce yourself.

I'm sorry more didn't happen on this thread in my absence...I was away this past week in Nashville with DH visiting a friend, and we had a blast! Hoping everyone's summers are also going well.

 

[comet1]

comet1 - Thanks for the info...and welcome to the thread! Feel free to introduce yourself.

It will be myself,DW,DS(8). This will be our third Disney cruise. I am in the process of looking for flights. We will fly out of Milwaukee or Chicago, on Sat. This year West-jet had good flight times and prices out of Chicago nonstop, but nothing showing up yet from them for next year non stop so I might just wait for a while.

 

[rlcook]

We haven't "officially" booked yet, but it is blocked off on my calendar.
This will be our 3rd DCL cruise.
It is myself-Lora, DH Bob, DD Mackenzie 12, and DD McKenna 7.
We live about 2 hours away from Washington,DC in the beautiful WV mountains.
Our travel plans are to Amtrak from DC to Chicago then to Vancouver with possibly 2 nights there. It will be 4 days each way on the train, but I'm looking forward to the beautiful scenery.
Looking forward to meeting all of you.

 

[dsnydaddy]

Welcome!

Just an FYI I just looked up available cabins on our cruise. (I looked up for 2 cruisers and interestingly enough there were far few lower deck cabins available for families.)

As of Aug 20th,

Insides:
Seems to be plenty of 11a, 10a, 10b and 10c cabins. Still 3 SPH cabins available although I really recommend against these, They are obstructed and more expensive than an unobstructed oceanview. The good thing about these cabins is that they are on Deck 5 and near the Kids clubs (if that is important to you)

Oceanview:
Much more limited availability here. Just 9b's remaining

Verandah:
Seems to be a lot of these left. 6a, 5b, 5a and 4a are all wide open.

Concierge:
3 cat T rooms still unsold.

I hear that Disney has been offering some special deals to Canadians for these cruises. So we may see the ship fill up more.

 

[comet1]

Anybody book flights yet?
Not sure if we should wait or do it now.

There are limited choices coming home for me, most leave early in the morning or late at night meaning a red eye flight home plus an entire day to waste with luggage in tow. ONly 2 that leave between 1-3 and get me home before midnight.

Vacation time is limited for me, so leaving on Tuesday is really not an option.

We are flying in either Friday night or Saturday, still playing with flights and prices.

 

[clarefb]

Hey ll we are travelling on this cruise too.

Cabin 2138
Me - Clare
DH - Ade
DS - Luke 9
DD - Lola - 6

Then my parents in 2140

Jill
Trevor

I need to check on my cabin numbers & I'll be back to read thru the thread this afternoon! We would love to participate in the FE ( I may have already started making them )

OK - I read thru the list (yes got suckered in!) We are English, my parents still live there, but my family live in CA, my youngest was born here.

We have a plan to spend some time i Canada before hand, but nothing planned yet. We have a 2 week trip to WDW FL booked in December & we are SOOOO excited! First time there in 7 years, even though I grew up vacationing in FL 3 or 4 times a year, we have slacked taking our kids there.

This is our 4th cruise, we did spring break from here in LA to Mexico two years in a row. No flying made for a very inexpensive trip for my family!

Hugs to all

Clare

 

[Mackie Mouse]

Welcome to Lora and Clare and their families!

I haven't even thought to start looking at flights yet! I need to work on a flight out to the west coast for our Disneyland trip next spring first!

Is everyone gearing up for back-to-school? Whose kiddos have already started their school year? I'm headed back into my classroom for the first time tomorrow since June...and I'm cranky about it...probably more cranky than the kids!

Also, Clare...as a CA native - do you do Disneyland more frequently? I've been lurking around on the DLR boards here but would love any insight for our trip in the spring. We're planning on flying into AZ, meeting up with a coupe of good buddies, and road-tripping out to Anaheim for a 4 1/2 day trip. I'm pretty excited!

Where are you staying at WDW? Promise me you'll be eating at the new Be Our Guest restaurant and reporting back!

 

[comet1]

Well the planner in me booked our hotel. We are staying at the Days Inn Downtown Vancouver. We plan to arrive Saturday. It is a smaller boutique hotel, but reviews say location is excellent and so is the service. Price was reasonable for downtown. Totally cancelable with no payment required till we checkout, so I figured we had nothing to lose.

 

[clarefb]

Welcome to Lora and Clare and their families!

I haven't even thought to start looking at flights yet! I need to work on a flight out to the west coast for our Disneyland trip next spring first!

Is everyone gearing up for back-to-school? Whose kiddos have already started their school year? I'm headed back into my classroom for the first time tomorrow since June...and I'm cranky about it...probably more cranky than the kids!

Also, Clare...as a CA native - do you do Disneyland more frequently? I've been lurking around on the DLR boards here but would love any insight for our trip in the spring. We're planning on flying into AZ, meeting up with a coupe of good buddies, and road-tripping out to Anaheim for a 4 1/2 day trip. I'm pretty excited!

Where are you staying at WDW? Promise me you'll be eating at the new Be Our Guest restaurant and reporting back!

I **may** be a seasoned visitor to DL what do you want to know?? We are back there Oct 2nd for Luke's 9th birthday - to do the Halloween trick or treat.

We dont have hotels booked for WDW - i think we may rent a house. Still deciding, but I really need to get on it. We are actually still deciding if we can squeeze a cruise in while we are there......

I have a 5 yo daughter, so it would be RUDE not to go to Be Our Guest! We are actually there when it opens - i'm super excited

 

[Mackie Mouse]

I **may** be a seasoned visitor to DL what do you want to know?? We are back there Oct 2nd for Luke's 9th birthday - to do the Halloween trick or treat.

Got any Club 33 connections?

But seriously (unless you do have Club 33 connections, and feel like getting us in...which would be kind of amazing...just saying... *AHEM*), any and every tip you've got would be helpful! Ride strategies, things not to miss, things different from WDW worth checking out... I have done WDW 7 or 8 times now, but have never done DLR. We have the new Carthay Circle Theater restaurant earmarked as a must-do, as well as a late lunch at the Blue Bayou, the Plaza Inn character breakfast, and grabbing some drinks at the beginning of our stay at Trader Sam's. We're also planning on surprising the friends were going with (who are celebrating their anniversary) with the Walk In Walt's Footsteps tour. I'm psyched. And also slightly scared about the crowds we'll face during spring break in Carsland. Hopefully the fact that we'll have 4 days in the parks (not counting the 1/2 day that the tour will take up) will help us fit it all in and brave the waits.

We dont have hotels booked for WDW - i think we may rent a house. Still deciding, but I really need to get on it. We are actually still deciding if we can squeeze a cruise in while we are there......

I vote for squeezing in the cruise. ALWAYS squeeze in a cruise

I have a 5 yo daughter, so it would be RUDE not to go to Be Our Guest! We are actually there when it opens - i'm super excited

Are you planning on doing lunch, or were you lucky enough to snag a reservation? Either way, photos or it didn't happen!

 

[Hazeleyes536]

:-(
take us off the list.
We had to cancel our cruise.
dh will be out of a job come December, and if he gets another job someone on base we will be moving!!

were bummed but if we move, it wont be cheap so we need to do the alsakan cruise at another time!!


Have fun yall!

 

[dsnydaddy]

:-(
take us off the list.
We had to cancel our cruise.
dh will be out of a job come December, and if he gets another job someone on base we will be moving!!

were bummed but if we move, it wont be cheap so we need to do the alsakan cruise at another time!!


Have fun yall!

Bummer! I hope your husband gets reseated soon!

 

[dsnydaddy]

Since our trip to DL is only about 8 months away, I've been reading the DL boards here religiously...and the crowds are interesting this summer to say the least. Crowds are apparently very heavy, but *everyone* has been bum-rushing CarsLand every day. Standby lines for Radiator Springs Racers are averaging 3-5 hours during peak times (mid-day) and FastPasses are generally gone by 9:30 or 10:00 every day...with a 30-45 minute wait in the morning just to get a FastPass. The general strategy right now all seems to depend on where you're staying - if you're "on-site" and can get early access to the parks, heading to RSR and getting a FP, then doing the rest of CarsLand is the way to go. If you don't have early park access, the best bet seems to be forgetting all about waiting for a FastPass and just using the single rider line for RSR whenever you feel like it, as that wait is never more than 30-45 min. At best you break even on wait time and don't have to wait in the Fastpass line, which itself is unpredictable because the ride has been breaking down all over the place.

*deep breath*

THANK GOODNESS we'll be going well after the opening summer hype has died down!!

Rumor has it, however, that if you couldn't care less about Car Land the rest of the parks are a breeze because everyone is crowded in over there!

dsnydaddy...anything to add??

When we were there, they only had one breakdown with the ride. Most of the breakdowns seem to occur in the morning. The ride tends to get up and running very quickly.

I anticipate the lines for RSR to stay long for quite some time. You can bet that once the SoCal AP's are released from their blockouts, it'll be CRAZY again. We were in the parks a total of 4 days during our last trip and it was during the height of the busy summer season. we rode RSR a total of 5 times and only stood in the 2 1/2 hour line once (I really wanted to ride it at night. It's beautiful!!!) My strategy for riding was simply to be at the gate at rope drop then immediately get into the fastpass line for RSR. (remember, the machines are not currently near the ride, they are near the Bugs Life Theater) You'll find that any early access people have already gotten in line and the line will be quite long. Do not let this dissuade you from standing in the line. Once they start handing out the fast passes (I've found that it is not right when the park opens but usually about 20-30 minutes later.) the line will move very fast. The line starts at Bugs Life Theater and stretches down to the central hub past the Carthay Circle Restaurant and into Hollywoodland. I've gotten in line clear down near the Hyperion Theater and still got fastpassess timed at about 3-4pm. Most of the passes that I received were for 1-2pm. Make sure that ALL of your party is inside the park at the time that you get the passes otherwise you'll not get all that you need. All of your party do not need to be present to get the passes so let them run off and have fun. Most of the time I also got a bonus fastpass for California Screamin' That certainly made up for the time I lost in waiting in the fastpass line.

Hope this helps!

 

[clarefb]

Got any Club 33 connections?

But seriously (unless you do have Club 33 connections, and feel like getting us in...which would be kind of amazing...just saying... *AHEM*), any and every tip you've got would be helpful! Ride strategies, things not to miss, things different from WDW worth checking out... I have done WDW 7 or 8 times now, but have never done DLR. We have the new Carthay Circle Theater restaurant earmarked as a must-do, as well as a late lunch at the Blue Bayou, the Plaza Inn character breakfast, and grabbing some drinks at the beginning of our stay at Trader Sam's. We're also planning on surprising the friends were going with (who are celebrating their anniversary) with the Walk In Walt's Footsteps tour. I'm psyched. And also slightly scared about the crowds we'll face during spring break in Carsland. Hopefully the fact that we'll have 4 days in the parks (not counting the 1/2 day that the tour will take up) will help us fit it all in and brave the waits.



I vote for squeezing in the cruise. ALWAYS squeeze in a cruise



Are you planning on doing lunch, or were you lucky enough to snag a reservation? Either way, photos or it didn't happen!

OK - I have posted 3 replies from my phone, then just realized none of them actually posted here we go again....

I think spring break will be ok - what dates are you there? We all have very different spring breaks here, we, for example are Mar 19-23. Also DL doesn't have the same kinds of crowds that WDW has, & most 'locals' will be blacked out on their AP's. The newer rides are always busier, but you should be OK. My biggest tip is to get there at opening. You can get a HUGE amount done in a couple of hours.


We are planning on lunch, didn't want to make a ressie in case we decided to cruise. We are still trying to finalize our final plans now.

I wish I had club 33 connections if I did, I'd be there myself!!

Clare xoxo

 

[Mackie Mouse]

I think spring break will be ok - what dates are you there? We all have very different spring breaks here, we, for example are Mar 19-23. Also DL doesn't have the same kinds of crowds that WDW has, & most 'locals' will be blacked out on their AP's. The newer rides are always busier, but you should be OK. My biggest tip is to get there at opening. You can get a HUGE amount done in a couple of hours.

I wish I had club 33 connections if I did, I'd be there myself!!

Clare xoxo

We'll be there March 25-28....which should be an interesting time. If the locals are blocked out, like you said, and we get to the park at opening hopefully it should be manageable. Right now we've already resolved that we'll be at the gates by 6:30 one morning to make the most of our Magic Morning....and I'm a firm believer in the miracle of rope drop, so you can bet we'll be making good use of that every morning.

I anticipate the lines for RSR to stay long for quite some time. You can bet that once the SoCal AP's are released from their blockouts, it'll be CRAZY again. We were in the parks a total of 4 days during our last trip and it was during the height of the busy summer season. we rode RSR a total of 5 times and only stood in the 2 1/2 hour line once (I really wanted to ride it at night. It's beautiful!!!) My strategy for riding was simply to be at the gate at rope drop then immediately get into the fastpass line for RSR. (remember, the machines are not currently near the ride, they are near the Bugs Life Theater) You'll find that any early access people have already gotten in line and the line will be quite long. Do not let this dissuade you from standing in the line. Once they start handing out the fast passes (I've found that it is not right when the park opens but usually about 20-30 minutes later.) the line will move very fast. The line starts at Bugs Life Theater and stretches down to the central hub past the Carthay Circle Restaurant and into Hollywoodland. I've gotten in line clear down near the Hyperion Theater and still got fastpassess timed at about 3-4pm. Most of the passes that I received were for 1-2pm. Make sure that ALL of your party is inside the park at the time that you get the passes otherwise you'll not get all that you need. All of your party do not need to be present to get the passes so let them run off and have fun. Most of the time I also got a bonus fastpass for California Screamin' That certainly made up for the time I lost in waiting in the fastpass line.

Hope this helps!

It does help! I'm hoping that after this fall we'll be able to find a day for DCA when the on-site folks won't have early entry to make obtaining a Fastpass easier. Since we're all grownups who have never done DLR before, I'm willing to bet that no one is going to be willing to just stand in line and let everyone else have fun, so we'll either all tough out the line together or resolve to just to the single rider line depending on how crazy the crowds are. Maybe we'll wait for a fastpass, then do single rider in the morning and save the fastpass for a ride at night...I don't want to overthink it too much this far in advance, but avoiding an epic wait for that one ride is really my only source of anxiety.

Clare, we probably won't need a Club 33 invite given the other meals we're planning on there...the goal is to do the chef's counter at Napa Rose to kick off our trip (there will be four of us - two couples) and do Carthay Circle later on in the trip in part because it sounds awesome and in part because if each couple splits one app and one dessert in addition to our entrees we'll all get preferred viewing for WoC, which is great. Needless to say, DH thinks we're already spending way too much money on food between those two, a character meal, and Blue Bayou!!

Either way I'm glad to have some CA natives on this thread to help me make sense of it all! I haven't even been there yet, though, and already I'm in love with "Walt's park".

:-(
take us off the list.
We had to cancel our cruise.
dh will be out of a job come December, and if he gets another job someone on base we will be moving!!

were bummed but if we move, it wont be cheap so we need to do the alsakan cruise at another time!!


Have fun yall!

We'll miss you, Jennie! Best wishes that your husband finds a new job ASAP and that you'll be able to cruise again before too long

 

[clarefb]

We'll be there March 25-28....which should be an interesting time. If the locals are blocked out, like you said, and we get to the park at opening hopefully it should be manageable. Right now we've already resolved that we'll be at the gates by 6:30 one morning to make the most of our Magic Morning....and I'm a firm believer in the miracle of rope drop, so you can bet we'll be making good use of that every morning.



It does help! I'm hoping that after this fall we'll be able to find a day for DCA when the on-site folks won't have early entry to make obtaining a Fastpass easier. Since we're all grownups who have never done DLR before, I'm willing to bet that no one is going to be willing to just stand in line and let everyone else have fun, so we'll either all tough out the line together or resolve to just to the single rider line depending on how crazy the crowds are. Maybe we'll wait for a fastpass, then do single rider in the morning and save the fastpass for a ride at night...I don't want to overthink it too much this far in advance, but avoiding an epic wait for that one ride is really my only source of anxiety.

Clare, we probably won't need a Club 33 invite given the other meals we're planning on there...the goal is to do the chef's counter at Napa Rose to kick off our trip (there will be four of us - two couples) and do Carthay Circle later on in the trip in part because it sounds awesome and in part because if each couple splits one app and one dessert in addition to our entrees we'll all get preferred viewing for WoC, which is great. Needless to say, DH thinks we're already spending way too much money on food between those two, a character meal, and Blue Bayou!!

Either way I'm glad to have some CA natives on this thread to help me make sense of it all! I haven't even been there yet, though, and already I'm in love with "Walt's park".



We'll miss you, Jennie! Best wishes that your husband finds a new job ASAP and that you'll be able to cruise again before too long

OK - that is the anaheim spring break, but the locals annual passes are blocked out that week. Hopefully it'll not be too bad

 

[emum]

Wow - been a long while since I popped in here, and it's all gone quiet in the interim ! Anyway, thought I'd pop in, as DH got a bonus last month, so I paid a good chunk of our holiday off - only have a little bit of the cruise to pay off now. So, it's fast becoming a reality !!! Now I've begun dreaming of the holiday after our Alaska trip.... how sad !

How are you all travelling ? I hope Sandy didn't wreak too much havoc with you all - looked positively horrendous !

Back to planning - I'm trying to decide when to tell the kids. Probably not until about a month before we leave this time (usually tell them 3-6 months out), as our eldest goes into Year 11 in January, and will have a very large workload until school breaks up on the 21st June. I don't want her distracted with thinking about Disney.

Also trying to work out the logistics of making it to a Dodgers game in the week before we get on the cruise. Would it be relatively easy to get to from the Grand Californian ?

I've been trying to read a few trip reports of Alaskan cruisers (not just DCL cruises, too), to get a feel of what we should see and do in the ports. Does anyone else know what they're planning on doing ? We don't want to do as many shore excursions as we did on the PC cruise, as a couple of them were rather disappointing (and VERY expensive !)

Anyway, hope this "bump" spurs some more posts... less than 8 months until we hear that wonderful horn

Cheers,
Sally

 

[Mackie Mouse]

How are you all travelling ? I hope Sandy didn't wreak too much havoc with you all - looked positively horrendous !

Glad to see someone posting here! I agree - it's been way to quiet on our thread.

I had probably the best of all possible Hurricane Sandy experiences. DH and I had planned to travel last weekend to Clearwater, FL for his cousin's wedding. We were supposed to come back last Monday - a week form today, during the worst of the storm. As you can imagine...that didn't happen! Our flight was cancelled and we couldn't get on a plane for another two days...but school and work were cancelled as well.

We got to spend two days exploring Clearwater, and we took an impromptu drive out to Orlando for a day in Universal and dinner at WDW! We finally got to see Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure, which was fabulous, and spent the later part of the afternoon hanging out around Downtown Disney followed by dinner at Boma. And oh, yeah, as far as we can tell our house never lost power and (unlike last year's storm) there was no water in our house to speak of at all. And all our friends and family are also OK.

If that isn't a silver lining, I don't know what is.

Hoping everyone also made out safely...and thinking of those who are still awaiting the return of power.

Also trying to work out the logistics of making it to a Dodgers game in the week before we get on the cruise. Would it be relatively easy to get to from the Grand Californian ?

I'll let you know after our Disneyland jaunt in March!

I've been trying to read a few trip reports of Alaskan cruisers (not just DCL cruises, too), to get a feel of what we should see and do in the ports. Does anyone else know what they're planning on doing ? We don't want to do as many shore excursions as we did on the PC cruise, as a couple of them were rather disappointing (and VERY expensive !)

Right now, I am thinking about whale watching in Juneau, the Misty Fjords by floatplane in Ketchikan (expensive...but many have told me its worth it!), and getting a ticket on our own for the White Pass railway in Skagway. Also hoping that I can talk DH into a couple's massage on Tracy Arm day Would love to see what others are thinking about!

 

[dsnydaddy]

Wow - been a long while since I popped in here, and it's all gone quiet in the interim ! Anyway, thought I'd pop in, as DH got a bonus last month, so I paid a good chunk of our holiday off - only have a little bit of the cruise to pay off now. So, it's fast becoming a reality !!! Now I've begun dreaming of the holiday after our Alaska trip.... how sad !

I've been trying to read a few trip reports of Alaskan cruisers (not just DCL cruises, too), to get a feel of what we should see and do in the ports. Does anyone else know what they're planning on doing ? We don't want to do as many shore excursions as we did on the PC cruise, as a couple of them were rather disappointing (and VERY expensive !)

Anyway, hope this "bump" spurs some more posts... less than 8 months until we hear that wonderful horn

Cheers,
Sally

Hi Sally,

Like you, I have been diligently working at paying off my cruise. Every time I get some extra money I buy a few Disney Gift Cards from Target (with a 5% discount!) and pay down my cruise. I only have about $1300 to go.

I've been on occasion reading trip reports. But I think that I pretty much nailed down my excursions. Now, to get the cruise paid of so that I can afford the expense of the excursions that I want to take.