06/24/2006 - Special Western Cruise - Who Else!?

[dmensing]

Lorie:

Yep, I found the passport yesterday! It was hiding in the filing cabinet that I had looked through at least three times. I was actually looking for something else when I found it.

In a way, I guess we are lucky that we haven't been on a Disney cruise yet, so it probably is easier for us to wait for it. We don't know what we are missing yet! We have a couple of upcoming vacations this summer to keep ourselves occupied. We have our traditional trip to Williamsburg, VA that we have done for the past 5-6 years. The kids love Water Country USA and Busch Gardens. We also have a trip to Sedona planned. No one in our family has ever been there, so we are excited about trying something new.

Talk to ya' later!
Dan.

 

[musicgirl]

Glad to hear you found it Dan!!! Sometimes it's easier when we aren't trying!

We're going to Williamsburg/Busch Gardens for our spring band trip the 1st weekend of May. They host a music competition that we participate in. We rotate sites (Hersey, 6 Flags in St. Louis, Kennywood in Pa., etc. ) This will be our 5th trip.

Last year we ventured up to Toronto for our 1st and last band trip there. We were hailed upon during our marching competition. We still had a great time despite the constant downpour of rain. We knew we were taking a risk going to Canada in early May!!!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I am glad both of you found the missing! Yes we do laugh about it now, but DH said of few words he wasn't to proud of that night!

Music girl I think my neice's high school might be at the same competetion(Pattonville High School). I think they are going the weekend of April 24 or the 1st of May. That would make it a small world wouldn't it! We have gone out to Six Flags to watch the bands before it is really fun, they are very talented.
Dan I'm glad you have some fun things to look forward to this summer. It looks as if our summer trip might get postponed. DH's hockey team made the playoffs and they are the same week as our trip. The playoffs are in Toronto so at least he will be heading there. I am not to sure I want to do the parks without him in summer. I'm also not sure if I want to spend 4 days watching hockey in Toronto either! Still thinking about though! Doesn't it figure it would be the same time.

 

[musicgirl]

Disneycrazymom, that would be so funny if it's the same trip. You mentioned your DH hockey team making play offs. What play-offs and are they on TV. My dh is a hockey fan (going through withdrawal) and needs a fix!!!!!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I doubt they would be on TV! This is just a local team. DH and DS both play hockey and like to watch it too. They have really missed the Blues playing this winter. I not so much!

I'll have to ask Jen what weekend the Band trip is and where they are going this year. Watch for Pattonville, colors green and white, Pirates. I hope your band does well. I would guess it can be pretty stressful if you are the one in charge! She has certainly enjoyed all the trips with the band! As I am sure your kids do also! It is kind of you to make it happen for them.

 

[dmensing]

Lorie:

If you get a chance at Busch Gardens, try out the new ride, Curse of DarKastle. I would love to get your review before our trip in June! We were tempted to sneek down there for a weekend just to get a taste of it, but we figured we would get plenty of it on the weeklong trip.

Have fun!
Dan.

 

[Crazy Momma]

I would like to know how Curse of DarKastle ride is as well. We have been trying to find the time to get down to Busch Gardens this spring. I like to go the parks before they get too busy. We have annual passes to B/G so we go 3-4 times a season. Our family loves B/G and Water Country.

Susan

 

[musicgirl]

Dan & Susan,

I'll give it a try if the line isn't to long!!!! I'll have to check it out on their web site to see it. I love the whole rollercoaster thing, but it is getting harder as I get older. I'll have to take my dramamine!!!! last time I tried a loopy rollercoaster, I was out for about 2 hours not feeling tip top!!!!

Lorie

 

[musicgirl]

Ok, I looked the ride up on the Busch Gardens site and I can't figure it out. I think it is an all indoor ride but not a rollercoaster. It looks like it has big cars that look like construction equipment. What is it?

We are getting to the 1 year mark!!! I must admit this year went pretty fast! I hope next year flies. When I hit June, I think I will have to start seriously looking for our hotel..

More expensive like ron jon's for 1 night or go cheaper for more???

 

[dmensing]

Lorie:

I thought you were headed to Williamsburg this weekend?

The new ride at Busch Gardens does look like it is all indoors. The description is kind of vague, but my best guess is that it may be similar to the Spiderman ride at Universal Studios. The Spiderman ride uses a combination of a moving car, screen effects with 3-D glasses, and real effects. If it is even half of what Spiderman is, it will be a great ride!

Since the exact countdown timers are gone, I was trying to calculate when we will hit the 400 day mark, which should be around May 20th. Just think of the time when we were looking at 600 days!

I was very interested in staying at Ron Jon's too. The kids would love the pool. I guess it will depend on the deals available and whether we want to spend more on the hotel or save it for some excursions! Decisions, decisions...

Dan.

 

[musicgirl]

Dan,

We're headed out to Williamsburg on Friday (5-6) so we'll be at the park Sat.

The ride sounds pretty cool. I''ll let you know.

600 days seems sooooo long ago!!! I really wish the old countdowns were back, they were so much easier to read. 420 days to go is much easier than the trails with over 12 months to go!!! I want detail!!!

I'm going to take some time and re-read our thread about hotels and stuff so I don't repeat myself with questions!!!

It shouldn't take very long. I am absolutely amazed at some of the other cruise dates. I think the one has about 15000 posts!!! Our tablemates from last time is going on that one. Can you imagine just joining the post now and trying to catch up?

Ron Jon's looks pretty cool. I really want to go there. If you hear of any deals let me know!

When we get closer to the cruise, we should try to set up a Cocoa Beach meet.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Hay, that would be fun to get together the night before at one of the hotel pools!

Lets pick a name for our little (I bet it gets bigger) group!
I am thinking of making a door magnet that says something like the Double Dippers Cruise. Any better thoughts of what we should call ourselves? If you want a magnet (it will take me time to get it all together) PM me your address and I'll send one your way when they are done.

 

[dmensing]

It would be nice to have a get together the night before the cruise at one of the hotels, especially for the kids.

I learned from others on the boards that you can get the countdown timers that show the specific day/hours/minutes from www.v50.net. It isn't "active" like the previous counters, but it is better than nothing!

C'ya!
Dan.

 

[musicgirl]

Dan,

I just noticed the new countdown clocks!!!! Yeah!!! I won't need to add it to mine, I'll just look at yours!!!

Angie,

yes, I think simply put "The Double Dippers" sounds pretty good!!! or maybe the "Disboard Double Dippers", how about the "Dippy Double Dippers"-just kidding!!!

How do you get the magnets? I wonder, I've done very simply ones this way. We could get the Mickey Head paint sample, glue it on a magnet and put those on. Maybe even write a dismeet time on it and stick them on all the room numbers that people have listed. I would do that.

Maybe those that get there the night before, we could meet at the pier. Even if it is in the afternoon, we could meet someplace at the beach.

Maybe we could all meet at my house for a sleep over in columbus. You can all fly here, we'll all get plane ressies together to Orlando. Ok, Ok I'm getting a little carried away!!!

I would love to meet ahead of time. How many days ahead of the cruise is everyone coming in? Anyone staying afterwards?

 

[musicgirl]

Ok, for those Busch Gardens Fans, The Dark Kastle ride report!!!

We are back from our band trip. Great day in the park on Sat. But there were lots of band groups and lots of season pass holders getting the actual passes that day.

The scoop: It is at the back of the park past Loch Ness and by Germany. The line begins at a little house/pass through/refreshment stand. The cm told us there was about a45-60 min. wait from that point (the pass through area) so we decided to try it. When we finally got inside where the permanent (vs set up/take down rope section) zig zag lines start. The cm there told us about 45-60 min. What! We had already waited over an hour!! They were very good about letting people get out of lines for restrooms/snacks out side of the castle.

You will zig zag outside in a garden, and then into the building. There is only a short zig zag section once IN the building. You start out in a large group like you do for the haunted mansion. When your group is let in to wait for the doors to open-go to the left. When you go in the room, stay to your left since the door is on the left. There is a quick movie about the storyline. When you go in, you will pick up the 3-D glasses and then they will assign you to a car. Each car holds 8 (2 rows of 4).

The ride is really fun. All the 3-D or should I say 4-D. It is not a simulator, the car does travel on a track. I think the car is suppose to be a sleigh with high sides. It zigs you around to different screens and so on.

They did have some short down times. Some of our kids had several blank screens during their ride and were given a "fast pass" to enter with no waiting. They don't have the Disney fast pass.

Is it worth the long wait? 1 hour yes, 2 hours no. so if you can not walk into the "real" garden lines, come back just before the park closes. They said that if you are in a line when the park closes, you will get to ride it.

We loved all the rollercoasters, especially Apollo's chariot and Alpengeist. sorry about any of my grammar or spelling. We had about 11 hours of sleep over the weekend.

Ta ta for now!!!!

 

[dmensing]

Thanks for the review, Lorie!

Based on your review, it does sound similar to Spiderman at Universal. I can't wait to try it in June! You had more patience than I would have had. I don't think there is any ride I would wait more than an hour for.

Before you left, you asked about who was staying before/after the cruise. We will probably just come in a day before and leave right after the cruise. We always end up missing our furry family member too much to stay longer.
We are keeping an eye out for Ron Jon specials, but I'm assuming we won't see anything until later this year.

C'ya!
Dan.

 

[musicgirl]

Dan,

I know what you mean about the waiting, we wouldn't have for 2, but we didn't want to feel like we wasted an hour in line.

I love to stay at Ron Jon's, but I think I might try for quantity of days. I'll keep my eye out for a good deal on it though.

I am also going to look into the following, they are a bit further down but that doesn't bother us.

Cocoa Beach Oceanside-$70 and up, 4.9 miles away,cont. bk, shuttle included, it is said to be old but well maintained, big pool, all rooms ocean view (is this possible?)

Inn at Cocoa Beach-5.6 miles away, oceanfront (it may not be right on it, but close) most rooms oceanfront, $135 a night. They currently have a deal for 2 nights the 3rd is free. So I might consider the higher price for a free night!!!

Comfort Inn-5.6 miles away, $90, old but well maintained, check in is 2:00.

Motel 6-5.7 miles away, $50 a night, good pool, 100 yards to the beach. This might be pushing it for cheap!!!! For 3 nights, $150 might be hard to pass up. We rarely spend time in the room.

We'd like to stay 2 nights before and 1 night after.

Have you seen that you can do ressies on-line now!!!!
1st time cruisers-75 days out (cruise must be paid in full)
CC members(that's me!!!)-90 days out

This is for the spa, Palo, excursions, signing up for the clubs and such.

Yahoo!!! No more ressies rush!

I wonder what the limit for a brunch at Palo would be if we wanted to have a dis meet there? I'll check into it. Maybe we could set it up ahead of time and have the CC members book as many as we can.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Hi all! I like the Disboard Double Dippers too! I will make them on magnetic paper with my printer. I will post a design when I come up with something. I am working on crafts for VBS so I am in a "crafty" mode right now. Spending lots of time at the craft stores trying to be inspired!

That is great news about doing everything before on line! It will make the first afternoon much more relaxing! We can meet by the Mickey Pool and get ice cream while the kids swim!

Glad your trip was good Music Girl!

We are considering going to the parks after our cruise for 4th of July weekend! We won't get to ride much but DH won't have to be back to work until Tuesday. We will try to come in the night before. I would like to stay at Ron Jon I think.

 

[Jillpie]

Hi everyone !

We just booked this cruise, so I'm new to this thread! We are a family of five, with three boys...their ages at the time of sailing will be Pat-18, Andrew-14 and Brendan-13.

We just got off the Wonder a few weeks ago and LOVED it. The boys absolutely had a blast in the clubs and Pat is still talking to all his friends online. He ended up getting together with them at DW afterward and walked around at night, so much fun. He's kind of afraid it "won't be the same" on the next cruise, but he is very social, so I know he'll have just a good a time.

We'll be celebrating our 20th anniversary and his high school graduation. Brendan will be 13, he loved the Oceaneer Lab on the Wonder, so I can't figure out where he should be...he likes structure and is pretty social too, so I'd love him to be in the Lab again, we'll see. Andrew had a blast on his own, in the teen club. We really didn't see the kids much at all, except for dinners every night.

Anyway, I look forward to "talking" to you all! I especially look forward to trying to hash out where we should stay the couple of days ahead of the cruise, would LOVE Ron Jon's, but very expensive...I called yesterday and asked about rates for this June and it is 270.00 for a 1 br in June! That one hurt. My DH works for a travel agency, so I'm hoping to get somewhat of a discount somewhere, but hope there are some codes for Ron Jon too by then.

Gnight everyone and talk to ya soon!! June 24th, 2006, here we come!!!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Welcome Jillpie! Glad to have you as part of our Dis Double Dippers! I also have a son (michael) who will be 13 on our cruise. He doesn't know about the trip yet but when it is closer maybe they would like to e-mail each other. He enjoyed the Lab last trip but I think will want to join the teen group this trip.

Angie