01/02/10- Mickey's New Decade Brigade!

[WDW Princess 71]

The kids have been on both the previous cruises, which were a 3-night and 4-night on the Wonder. None of us has been on the Magic yet. We're looking forward to finding all the differences between the ships.

If you'd like to have the kids correspond before the cruise so they can "know" someone else on the ship, let me know and I can PM their email addresses.

I've discussed the FE and magnet exchanges with my DW, and she seems open to the idea. We haven't done these on the previous cruises. We have done door signs, however. I haven't seen discussion of door signs, so I'm not sure who's planning on doing one. We use the magnetic printer paper, and put magnets on some "Mickey" paint chips with our names on them around the sign. We put several other paint chips on the door, and other cruisers took them. That wasn't the intention of making them, but it wasn't a problem for us, either.

We arranged a meet on the last cruise. We met on the "secret" area aft on Deck 8 before the Sail Away party. It was nice to put faces to names, and we saw the others several times during the cruise. I'm open to doing that again for this cruise if anyone's interested.

It seems we have some veteran cruisers joining us. I'll be happy to share any information I have, and I'm always open to learning new things on the best way to enjoy the cruise.

First question: Does anyone have experience with the different shore excursions? What do you guys recommend?

Glad you are interested in the FE, I'll look forward to getting a PM from you soon with your info so I can sign you up! As far as the door magnets, I did what you did on my last cruise, got the magnet paper and printed the designs right on them. Some people just laminate designs printed on regular paper and then put little magnetic strips on the back, but I think those are flimsy for withstanding hallway traffic, getting bent in the suitcase while travelling, etc, so I always splurge for the more expensive magnet paper. Below is a pic of my door from January 2009. I also did magnets with the Mickey head paint chips from Home Depot, I got the lime green colored ones since that is the official color of the DIS.

I have never participated in a door design magnet that we all have, is that where someone designs a logo so we can all have that same magnet on our door? That sounds fun- and I believe someone has a friend in art school who is working on a design that we could put on tshirts, so maybe we can do it on magnets too- if someone can please post and refresh my memory on where we are with the tshirt design, that would be great!

Regarding your question about the excursions, I cant be of much help there since this is my first Magic cruise. I plan on doing Megan's Bay on my own in St. Thomas, and for St. Maarten I booked Joyce Prince for a private tour since I heard she is wonderful here on the DIS. For CC, I booked the jet ski tour since I didnt get to do it last time (it was too windy, all activities on the water were cancelled, hope i can get it in this time)!

 

[KC-Disney]

Hey all, welcome to the newcomers. I told my boys there are some more kids signing up. They were getting worried. My DS's are 11 and 13.

I finally got some of the excursions booked. We are doing the fishing at Castaway in the AM.. My oldest DS and I are going to do the parasaling as well. I did it last cruise, and loved the experience. My DS wants to do it now, so I guess I just had to break down and go with him. Hard sacrifice, LOL.

We are doing a private tour at St. Thomas for $25 a person. Reviews seem pretty good. As for St. Maarten - likely just look around, and maybe do some shopping?? Not sure yet.

Did get Palo for dinner one night, even though I really would have loved the brunch instead but they were all booked. Oh well.

Thanks to the well wishers for our Thanksgiving. We had a really good weekend, seen a lot of family. My parents are now getting ready to head to Arizona for the winter. We are still getting snow. Roads were really icy this AM.

HAve a good night everyone.

 

[secretkeeper]

Welcome aboard!

We are also going on our third cruise. On the first cruise we all kind of found each other in the terminal. It wasn't planned but easy at the port. We also had one official meet for those who wanted to visit. We saw several people after the fact but the group that planned that cruise were into their own theme called "Tour Guide Mickey". Most of the planning group lived in Florida and many knew each other. They all had these special "Mickey's" that work interactively at WDW. They were into bringing and carrying these everywhere and some had wardrobes and suitcases checked for each Mickey? They were all unattached adults and had no children. I gues their Mickey's were standin's for those. To each their own. There was one planned meeting and no Fish Extender's

The last cruise was Mexico and this was a completely opposite experience. A small group was very active on the boards early on and we planned a small FE exchange. However we had a lot of families join closer to the cruise. We started with about 15 members. By the the time we cut off the list there were 58 members. It was a blast! We had one planned meet at the Sail Away Party. We also had a Palo Brunch in their special room for about 14 of us. That was a very nice experience. We also met a family through the boards and were able to link dinner reservations. This was great since we did not have the wonder of who you were going to be assigned with. Once you got to recognize people we tended to navigate toward each other in places like the adult shows at night. We also met some now life long friends that we are sailing with this time again. Our DD's can't wait to see each other again.

We loved decorating our doors and used the printer magnet paper to make fun magnets. You could always hear people commenting on the magnets as they walked down the halls. It also makes finding your stateroom much easier, LOL!

 

[the1scarlet]

I am going on the Jan 2nd cruise. Yeah! How do I get on the list to be part of the Fish Extenders?

I would like to participate!

 

[geber826]

Just talked my family into being Pirates for Halloween this year so we can reuse our costumes on the boat. We attend a Halloween party each year where adults and children dress up, so we will be a pirate family and will be ready for pirate night.

I can't wait to start booking stuff, hopefully there will be a few things still open. Anyone know if it is possible for me to book for my parents as well. They are in another stateroom.

If anyone is interested, Disney Store has some monogrammed pillow cases available right now. We got one for each child and plan to use those for the pillowcase signing thing.

talk to eryone soon.

 

[itssarayay]

That sounds fun- and I believe someone has a friend in art school who is working on a design that we could put on tshirts, so maybe we can do it on magnets too- if someone can please post and refresh my memory on where we are with the tshirt design, that would be great!

That's me! She's working on a couple of drafts right now... I should hopefully have them within a week. I'm also looking at a couple of printing options. It may be cheapest for everyone for me to bulk order them and pass them out on the ship during a meet (I've found a place where i can order certain numbers of sizes with no minimum). We would probably get better quality shirts that way, as well. I can give those that are staying in Disney before the cruise theirs early if they like so I could take less on the ship. We're driving down so it really wouldn't be a problem getting them there.

I wish I had more time to come on the boards and chat, school is killing me - welcome to all the newcomers!

 

[MightyMike]

Count us in for group t-shirts and/or a door magnet with the group logo once you have the design!

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

[/QUOTE]

LOVE your door!! Wow, seeing this makes me so excited I think I need to take "magnet inventory" this weekend!

 

[WDW Princess 71]

I am going on the Jan 2nd cruise. Yeah! How do I get on the list to be part of the Fish Extenders?

I would like to participate!

the1scarlet- I am in charge of the list for Fish Extender participants. I've posted all the details in post #91 of this thread which explains what info you'll need to PM me in order for me to sign you up. If you have any other questions, let me know, otherwise I'll look forward to your PM!

That's me! She's working on a couple of drafts right now... I should hopefully have them within a week. I'm also looking at a couple of printing options. It may be cheapest for everyone for me to bulk order them and pass them out on the ship during a meet (I've found a place where i can order certain numbers of sizes with no minimum). We would probably get better quality shirts that way, as well. I can give those that are staying in Disney before the cruise theirs early if they like so I could take less on the ship. We're driving down so it really wouldn't be a problem getting them there.

I wish I had more time to come on the boards and chat, school is killing me - welcome to all the newcomers!

Sara- thats great! I cant wait to see the designs. Will you be able to post them on here so we can maybe vote on them as a group for which one we like the best for the shirt? And if your friend doesnt mind, maybe some of us could use the other designs as magnets for our doors? As far as ordering the shirts, whatever way sounds like it would be the best deal and easiest for you to organize, sounds like a plan. If you need to order them in bulk in advance though, how could we get you the money? I think I read on here that people have set up PayPal accounts to send money through? I've never done that but maybe someone else has more experience.

Count us in for group t-shirts and/or a door magnet with the group logo once you have the design!

MightyMike- just curious, are you interested in signing up for the Fish Extender too? Please forgive me if you had already signed up- a few posts back I had posted that my hard drive crashed and some people's info on the signup was lost. If you signed up before please re-read the Post #91 and PM me again with your info since I don't have you on my list right now, and if you didnt sign up before but want to now, I'd be happy to add you!

 

[tiffanye77]

Sorry it's been so long. Life is crazy!

Hahaha.......why so?

I guess I missed the reason that I was your hero?
10-14-2009 10:17 PM


Melissa you are my hero for being on the longest. I can't even seem to make it 3 months....

Welcome to everyone. I think that it would be great to have a few of the kiddo's in our little family meet up and get to know each other.

We got a Palo's ressie however, I was not thrilled with it being on the last evening. But I went ahead and booked hoping to change once on the ship.

My DS13 is wanting to parasail and I think other than that we are only doing 1 excursion.

I have finally started my magnets. I can't wait until I get to put them up.

Well, off to work! Everyone have a wonderful Wednesday

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

Just talked my family into being Pirates for Halloween this year so we can reuse our costumes on the boat. We attend a Halloween party each year where adults and children dress up, so we will be a pirate family and will be ready for pirate night.

I can't wait to start booking stuff, hopefully there will be a few things still open. Anyone know if it is possible for me to book for my parents as well. They are in another stateroom.

If anyone is interested, Disney Store has some monogrammed pillow cases available right now. We got one for each child and plan to use those for the pillowcase signing thing.

talk to eryone soon.

Good thinkin about the Halloween costumes . DD and I are just planning to wear some kind of pirate-y type shirt hopefully a bit bedazzeled , maybe some pirate mickey ears and call it a day but I love to see everyone who really goes all out. I am definitly not that creative.

I believe as long as your reservations are linked you would be able to make reservations with your parents but if you just want to be able to booked for them alone, you'd have to be signed in as them. Again, not 100%Whatever you decide to do just remember to print a copy of the reservations and/or excursions that you've planned from the website and bring it with you just in case. Can't be too careful, especially with those precious Palo reservations

 

[mmackeymouse]

Yeah. no Palo brunch ressies available when I logged on. So, we are just gonna have to get to Port early and hope we can get something.

I cannot believe we are almost to the 2 month mark. I am starting to get a little blue, and the trip has not even happened yet! I feel like I really need to kick it into gear, as far as getting rental cars/excursions/etc set up.

It's been pretty slow at work lately, I think probably because of all the sickness going around, so hopefully I will have more time to check out the boards and keep up.

 

[secretkeeper]

Yeah. no Palo brunch ressies available when I logged on. So, we are just gonna have to get to Port early and hope we can get something.

I cannot believe we are almost to the 2 month mark. I am starting to get a little blue, and the trip has not even happened yet! I feel like I really need to kick it into gear, as far as getting rental cars/excursions/etc set up.

It's been pretty slow at work lately, I think probably because of all the sickness going around, so hopefully I will have more time to check out the boards and keep up.

On our first cruise we did not get Palo reservations either. Keep checking the online reservation area daily. As soon as someone cancels a reservation, it will pop up on the website. The closer we get to the cruise, the more often this happens. If you can't get one that way then get to the port early. We got to the port when they opened and got a number 3 boarding card. As soon as you walk in a Crew Member will direct you to "Parrot Cay" for lunch. Tell them you need to go to make dining reservation changes. They will then take you to where they are doing that, usually "Diversions". The Navigator you get when you check in will say they do not open until 1:00 but they really open as soon as boarding starts. We were able to ge both a brunch and a dinner that way. I have heard that they hold back as many as 50% of avaliable spots for dining from online. So get there early and you should be fine.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

On our first cruise we did not get Palo reservations either. Keep checking the online reservation area daily. As soon as someone cancels a reservation, it will pop up on the website. The closer we get to the cruise, the more often this happens. If you can't get one that way then get to the port early. We got to the port when they opened and got a number 3 boarding card. As soon as you walk in a Crew Member will direct you to "Parrot Cay" for lunch. Tell them you need to go to make dining reservation changes. They will then take you to where they are doing that, usually "Diversions". The Navigator you get when you check in will say they do not open until 1:00 but they really open as soon as boarding starts. We were able to ge both a brunch and a dinner that way. I have heard that they hold back as many as 50% of avaliable spots for dining from online. So get there early and you should be fine.

Thanks for the tip about going to Diversions as soon as you board to make changes for Palo! I had no idea you could do that, I thought it didn't start until 1:00 or whatever the set time was, so on my last cruise I got there at 1:00 and there were probably 10 people in front of me, and the line was SO SLOW- it took 45 mins! I dont know if it was because people were indecisive, or something else, but it was ridiculous and if it werent for my "Drink of the Day" in my souvenir glass to pass the waiting time, I would have been really mad to spend so much precious time waiting in line when I could have been tanning up on deck 9 : ) So thank you, I will definitely take your advice and go to Diversions before the set opening time if I want to change anything.

 

[uh60speedy]

Hi, I just found the DIS board. Im booked for this cruise and it will be my first with DCL, and a first for my DD (is this the correct??) who will be 9. We will be traveling with another family as well and I was just looking for some good advice for newbies. Never been to the Caribean and wanted to see if anyone can recommend some good excursions. Does this cruise have a pirate night??

Tristan

 

[uh60speedy]

OK, I just spent the last few hours reading all the posts from this thread. I guess there will be a pirate night, just dont know which night! We booked Palo dinner one night but only got a late seating. We booked the Golden Eagle catamaran for St Maarten and the kayaking for St Thomas; hopefully they will be fun. My wife and I are going to Disneyland for my DD bday 2morrow, and hope to pick up several things for the cruise. Is it too late to jump in on the fish extender and magnet thing???

 

[WDW Princess 71]

OK, I just spent the last few hours reading all the posts from this thread. I guess there will be a pirate night, just dont know which night! We booked Palo dinner one night but only got a late seating. We booked the Golden Eagle catamaran for St Maarten and the kayaking for St Thomas; hopefully they will be fun. My wife and I are going to Disneyland for my DD bday 2morrow, and hope to pick up several things for the cruise. Is it too late to jump in on the fish extender and magnet thing???

Hi Tristan, welcome! I can help answer some of your questions. My name is Nicole, I'm 23 and this is my third DCL cruise but first on the Magic. There are lots of other people on our cruise thread here that have cruised before that also have lots of DCL wisdom to share : ) Ok so first about Pirate Night- while DCL reserves to change the schedule at any time, typically as of now for the 7 night Eastern Cruise, Pirate Night is Tuesday night. The entire cruise schedule of which nights are Formal Night, Captains Gala, etc. and which shows are which night can be found here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2068966 along with lots of other awesome information that I think will help answer some of your questions.

About the FE and magnet exchange, its not too late to sign up! I'm actually in charge of the FE exchange, please read post #91 in this thread so see what info you need to PM me. You'll need to make a few more posts on the DIS (i think you have to have 10) before you can PM, so you'll have to do that or you can always just post your details here if you are comfortable with that. We haven't set a formal deadline yet but i think it will be sometime in mid November to give people plenty of time to buy or make their gifts. For the magnet exchange, itssarayay is in charge of that, sorry i don't remember the exact post number but it wasn't too far back from here, that has the details of what you need to PM Sara to sign up.

Have fun in Disneyland tomorrow! We are actually going there in a couple weeks too, I'm so excited, I haven't been to DLR since 2007. And I love your pic with Pluto with his reindeer ears on, I'm hoping to get some "holiday character" photo ops if they are already dressed up by November 10 when I get there! And lastly where are you from in San Diego? I went to college at USD and graduated in '07...I lived in La Jolla while I was there. I really miss it and will be visiting there in November (its a combo Disneyland/San Diego trip). Say hi to the palm trees and sun for me as we spend another raining day today in lovely NJ!

 

[toverly]

How do I send a PM to WDWPrincess71 to join the fish extender list? I think I did earlier in the year but can't remember.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

How do I send a PM to WDWPrincess71 to join the fish extender list? I think I did earlier in the year but can't remember.

Hi Tish- your info was actually one of the names I did not lose, I still had your original PM information so you don't need to resend me anything, you are on the official FE list already, but thanks for checking up! But to answer your question in case you ever need to PM anyone else, you can just click on the person's DIS name and then a box appears with options, one of them is "Send a private message to xxxxxx", and thats it! You can also go to "Quick Links" at the top and click "private messages" which will take you to your inbox, sent messages, and where you can make a new message- when you start typing in the name of the person you want to send something to, it kind of "pre-fills" the remaining letters and gives you a list of choices of the names, and you choose from the list, like Google does when you start typing something in the search box. Hope this helps!

 

[toverly]

Thanks so much! I knew I had contacted you before but I haven't had a chance to catch up on all the messages on the board yet. I am so looking forward to meeting everyone on the cruise!