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

[babeogeorge]

Excited,

Reservations made at the Holiday Inn Express, Vancouver at the airport. $189.99 for the four of us, shuttle to the cruise terminal and back to hotel, and we are leaving our car on site. Yeah! Really love when a plan comes together. Looked into the Pan Pacific but it was $349.00 and $35.00 a day for parking WOW!!! Thought about parking car in Seattle and taking train to Vancouver after checking price at Pan Pacific but was calling around and found what we needed.

This is our 2nd cruise and still feel a little overwhelmed still. How do I find out the themes of dinners like pirate night ext... Is there somewhere to get information like that?

Hope all is well with everyone, talk to ya later
Karen ;-)

 

[dsnydaddy]

Wow! I guess Pan Pacific is out for me. They told me that with RV the cost would be $10 per day over the auto charge. If that's what they charge for auto then there's no way I'm paying that! I'll go with a weekly rate at one of the nearby RV parks. That'll only be about $200.

 

[Mackie Mouse]

At the request of a few from our group who are planning to make personalized gifts, let me know your favorite Disney characters if you have one, so I can add it to our FE document on our website

Exactly FIVE months to go! WHOOHOO!

 

[Dancin Mom]

We are booked, and everyone is very excited! We'll be celebrating my wife's birthday!

Barefoot Mark
Kathy DW
Tyler Anne (DD 8 years)
Xander (DS 4 years)
plus grand ma and grandpa!

Hope to meet everyone! This will be our 2nd cruise, and want to meet more people- last cruise was a bit overwhelming!

Hi and welcome!!!!
We are super excited, too! Our daughter will be 7 by cruise time She is super excited! It's her second Disney Cruise, the other was Mexico in 2011! This is a great group; I already can't wait to meet everyone!!

Lori

 

[Dancin Mom]

At the request of a few from our group who are planning to make personalized gifts, let me know your favorite Disney characters if you have one, so I can add it to our FE document on our website

Exactly FIVE months to go! WHOOHOO!

Let's see, Violet loves pretty much all, but especially lately Vanellope/Wreck it Ralph, Tinkerbell and friends, Merida, Rapunzel, Nightmare before Christmas...

I love Minnie, Nightmare Before Christmas,and anything Alice in Wonderland or Villains

Hubby likes Monster's Inc, pirates.

Great document idea, as I am wanting to use it for FE, too ;-)

 

[JeannieBlueEyes]

At the request of a few from our group who are planning to make personalized gifts, let me know your favorite Disney characters if you have one, so I can add it to our FE document on our website

Exactly FIVE months to go! WHOOHOO!

Hi everyone! Here's our list of favorite Disney characters:
DS - Pluto
DH - Winnie the Pooh, pirates
Me - I like them all.. Had to pick Rapunzel, Pirates

 

[dsnydaddy]

Whoo Hoo Our cruise is officially paid off!!!!

 

[Mackie Mouse]

Whoo Hoo Our cruise is officially paid off!!!!

Hooray!

It's a good feeling.

By the way...we have our hotel in Vancouver booked! We'll be at the Westin Grand from June 28-July 1. Scored what I think is a nice deal through Priceline! Now we just need to figure out flights...hoping they come down below $600/pp from Philly at some point :\

 

[dsnydaddy]

It really is a great feeling! I'll be setting our spending money aside later this month. Then it's just waiting for it to happen!

 

[shaggy430]

We just signed up for this cruise! Woohoo!!

I guess as cruises go, this is kinda last minute as we are 150 days or so out??

Anyway, we are a family of four. Dad, mom, daughter at 7 years, son is 5.

Now what is this FE thing? FE = Fish Extender? Not sure I get this whole exchange thing...Sound fun and sign me up. Just don't know what it is exactly.

 

[dsnydaddy]

Welcome! 146 days by my count. We're glad to have you!

 

[Mackie Mouse]

We just signed up for this cruise! Woohoo!!

I guess as cruises go, this is kinda last minute as we are 150 days or so out??

Anyway, we are a family of four. Dad, mom, daughter at 7 years, son is 5.

Now what is this FE thing? FE = Fish Extender? Not sure I get this whole exchange thing...Sound fun and sign me up. Just don't know what it is exactly.

Hello and welcome! I prefer to count by months since that's a smaller number. Less than 5 of them to go - WOW!

The FE (or Fish Extender) exchange is fun and easy to participate in. You need to hang a "Fish Extender" (which is usually a little pocket organizer...you can make one, buy it off eBay, hang up a tote bag...whatever!) outside your door to collect small gifts in, and you need to make a gift for every other cabin participating. There is no price point for the gifts, and no set way to give gifts; some people like to put something small together for each person in a travel group, others put together with gift per cabin. Some people buy their gifts, or give something edible; others get their craft on and make all manner of amazing things. Spend as much or as little time and money as you want to or can afford. Get as creative as you desire, or don't. It's all up to you, because the gift is really in the giving

In the past, we have seen people make keychains, photo frames, small scrapbooks, CDs with music, magnets to hang on doors, Christmas ornaments...I could keep going. We have gotten candy/treats from all over the USA/World, and given some local treats of our own (I will give away that in the past they were Tastykakes...we're not doing that this time! You may want to give some items that will be useful specifically on Pirate night, or for the 4th of July, or for Alaska.

I don't have photos of my gifts from last time in 2011, but they included Tastykakes (practically a Philly-area delicacy), a couple of magnets for each stateroom, some pirate night paraphanelia (temp. tattoos, glow sticks, eye patches), and Hershey's miniature candies (which may seem like a cop-out, but we live an hour away from the factory!). I packaged them all up in small gift bags that would fit in the FE pockets.

If you want inspiration, this thread is an oldie but a goodie. There are literally dozens more with other ideas if you just search "FE" or"Fish Extender"! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1219607

In order to add you to the FE, I will need everyone's names and, most importantly, your cabin number. If you're not comfortable posting that information here, you can PM it to me. We have all of the FE information posted on a password-protected website...ask and I will be happy to get you the password! There's a big chart up there with names, cabin numbers, favorite Disney characters, applicable allergies, etc.

I'd also encourage you to join our Facebook group if you have an account - communicating in real-time seems to be much easier over there, and we've been having a lot of good laughs over the past few weeks. Everyone has still done a great job keeping this thread going, though...so it's all about what you want to do.

We have an absolutely awesome group for this trip going...I'm glad to have you guys aboard, too!

 

[racingfandj]

I think pulling teeth from this crew would be easier than getting together a list of favorite characters. I'm still waiting on a response from my nephew in KC. I've messaged him, his mom and his sister.

Rob -- Uncle Remus, Mr. Incredible or Roger Rabbit
Jill -- Mickey, especially classic Mickey
Lauren -- Tigger
Sam -- Jack Sparrow, Jack Skellington
Jindria -- Belle, Rapunzel, Tink
Zoe -- Austin and Ally
Byron -- Phineas and Ferb
Drew -- ???


Jill

 

[shaggy430]

Hello and welcome! I prefer to count by months since that's a smaller number. Less than 5 of them to go - WOW!

The FE (or Fish Extender) exchange is fun and easy to participate in. You need to hang a "Fish Extender" (which is usually a little pocket organizer...you can make one, buy it off eBay, hang up a tote bag...whatever!) outside your door to collect small gifts in, and you need to make a gift for every other cabin participating. There is no price point for the gifts, and no set way to give gifts; some people like to put something small together for each person in a travel group, others put together with gift per cabin. Some people buy their gifts, or give something edible; others get their craft on and make all manner of amazing things. Spend as much or as little time and money as you want to or can afford. Get as creative as you desire, or don't. It's all up to you, because the gift is really in the giving

In the past, we have seen people make keychains, photo frames, small scrapbooks, CDs with music, magnets to hang on doors, Christmas ornaments...I could keep going. We have gotten candy/treats from all over the USA/World, and given some local treats of our own (I will give away that in the past they were Tastykakes...we're not doing that this time! You may want to give some items that will be useful specifically on Pirate night, or for the 4th of July, or for Alaska.

I don't have photos of my gifts from last time in 2011, but they included Tastykakes (practically a Philly-area delicacy), a couple of magnets for each stateroom, some pirate night paraphanelia (temp. tattoos, glow sticks, eye patches), and Hershey's miniature candies (which may seem like a cop-out, but we live an hour away from the factory!). I packaged them all up in small gift bags that would fit in the FE pockets.

If you want inspiration, this thread is an oldie but a goodie. There are literally dozens more with other ideas if you just search "FE" or"Fish Extender"! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1219607

In order to add you to the FE, I will need everyone's names and, most importantly, your cabin number. If you're not comfortable posting that information here, you can PM it to me. We have all of the FE information posted on a password-protected website...ask and I will be happy to get you the password! There's a big chart up there with names, cabin numbers, favorite Disney characters, applicable allergies, etc.

I'd also encourage you to join our Facebook group if you have an account - communicating in real-time seems to be much easier over there, and we've been having a lot of good laughs over the past few weeks. Everyone has still done a great job keeping this thread going, though...so it's all about what you want to do.

We have an absolutely awesome group for this trip going...I'm glad to have you guys aboard, too!

Sounds like fun! Count four of us in. I will PM you.

 

[racingfandj]

I think pulling teeth from this crew would be easier than getting together a list of favorite characters. I'm still waiting on a response from my nephew in KC. I've messaged him, his mom and his sister.

Rob -- Uncle Remus, Mr. Incredible or Roger Rabbit
Jill -- Mickey, especially classic Mickey
Lauren -- Tigger
Sam -- Jack Sparrow, Jack Skellington
Jindria -- Belle, Rapunzel, Tink
Zoe -- Austin and Ally
Byron -- Phineas and Ferb
Drew -- Mater from Cars

Jill

Hmmm...threats of frilly pink princesses got an answer out of my 15 y/o newphew.

 

[racingfandj]

What is everyone doing for dining times? Is everyone on the west coast taking the second seating so all of us east of the Rockies can eat at a somewhat human hour? I think I need to start calling in and being the squeeky wheel.

 

[Mackie Mouse]

Colin and I always take late dining - takes the pressure off to get back to the ship early, and (no offense!), we kind of like that it tends to attract the older kids/adult crowd. Since we'll be in Vancouver for three days pre-cruise, we'll probably be well-adjusted to the time difference, so I'm not too worried.

Hoping to do Palo brunch on Tracy Arm day if we can, and dine at Palo one night (sea day would be great .

 

[babeogeorge]

Colin and I always take late dining - takes the pressure off to get back to the ship early, and (no offense!), we kind of like that it tends to attract the older kids/adult crowd. Since we'll be in Vancouver for three days pre-cruise, we'll probably be well-adjusted to the time difference, so I'm not too worried.

Hoping to do Palo brunch on Tracy Arm day if we can, and dine at Palo one night (sea day would be great .

We are on the second seating for dinner! We liked it before because we already watched the show before dinner and was not in a huge rush to make it on time. Plus we like to talk a lot and had free time to talk over dinner. ;-)

 

[babeogeorge]

We are on second seating for dinner. Liked it before because no rush to make it to the show because we watched it first. Plus we like to talk and we could take our time eating. Found that a mid afternoon snack helped with the later hour. And as Mackie Mouse indicated we have older children.

I posted before IDK it went into space somewhere, so sorry if this is a double post.

 

[Alaska2013]

We are second dining as well. My kids are night owls and I think one some of the excursion days, we are going to want to stay off the boat until the last minute.