09/15/07 Early Check in September 15, 2007 Eastern

[JNorris]

OOHHH, yes, I have questions.
This will be our second time in DC so we are not doing the red trolley. We did that last trip. So we are not hitting all of the monuments again. This time we are doing the staff led Capitol tour with our Representative. We also put in a request for the White House tour. We put the request in 5 1/2 months in advance. Our Representative told us that we should get that, but we will not find out for sure if we have it or not until July. So far I haven't heard from their office yet. I hope to learn soon that we will get that White House tour!! We are also going to Phantom of the Opera at the Kennedy Center. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited about that!!!!! The rest of the time we will be touring all of the Smithsonian Museums. I heard that one of them will be closed when we go. (first full week of August). Which one is that?
My biggest question is about eating. What restaurants do you recommend? We will have our two daughters with us, ages 12 and 8. So we need good food, but nothing too fancy. We do not like to go to fast food places. I am thinking of places like Ruby Tuesday, Applebee's, etc. It does not have to be a chain, but restaurants like that. Kid friendly, good food.........etc.
Any recommendations?
We are staying at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza. Are any of these type restaurants near the hotel?
If I think of any other questions, I will ask.
Thank you so much for your help!!!!

If you like doing tours, but just don't want to do the Old Town Trolley again, consider the DC Ducks tour. It is in a neat vehicle that goes in the water like a boat, and drives on land like a bus. They even go down into the Potomac! And the tour guides are really good.

We've done the Capitol tour, and really enjoyed it. Probably more so than the White House (except when they had the Christmas trees up!) If you get the White House tour, know that you cannot bring bags of ANY KIND on the tour (no purses, nothing!) And no cameras, of course. The Smithsonian that is closed is the American History one. Our favorite is the Natural History museum, and the Smithsonian Castle was neat too. It's right across the National Mall.

As far as eating places, we always have that concern since DD9 is such a picky eater. I know that there is an ESPN restaurant (can't remember the exact name, but it's a chain), near the White House. I think there are some chain restaurants in Chinatown near the Chinatown metro stop. Will you be using the Metro? We do all the time, in fact, we rarely drive when we are there. DH's apartment is in Pentagon City, across the river, so it's very convenient to the Metro. There is a big mall there too, and it has a Ruby Tuesdays, and then just outside the mall there are several good restaurants.

I'm afraid I don't know where the Hamilton Crown Plaza is, so I don't know what is nearby.

One thing we did the last time was the International Spy Museum. We LOVED IT! You have to purchase timed tickets, so when you go, you might have to purchase tickets for later in the day if they are really busy.

Also, have you been to the National Zoo? My DD also loves the pandas, and the one that was born there 2 years ago, probably will be sent back to China soon. She was so disappointed to find out that the female turned out not to be pregnant again! If you are going to the Zoo, and are riding the Metro, there are 2 Metro stops, but one is uphill from the zoo, and one is downhill. We messed up the last time, and ended up having to walk UPHILL for 4 blocks to get to the entrance, and then of course, the whole zoo is up and down hills. Go early because it will be HOT!

I hope you guys have fun! Let me know if you have any more questions, I can always ask DH to find out stuff!

 

[Lisa0503]

Forgive me if someone already replied to this, but I know I have read somewhere that they don't accept water shipments at the port. Maybe on the regular cruise boards, or in the stickies at the top. I don't know if I can find where I read that, but it seems there were a couple of threads about that in the last year or so.

You can ship water down if you put it in a cardboard box and ship it yourself (but water is heavy so I would think it would be expensive to ship....) The water deliveries that were not being accepted by DCL were the ones that people had ordered from places like Staples (back when they used to ship for free...) Staples would just ship the water in the case with a clear plastic wrapper around it with a shipping label. DCL could easily see that it was water and too many people were doing it so DCL stopped accepting those deliveries....

 

[Bareacuda]

call me weird... but for the convience, I get water from DCL.We drink alot of water, so shipping it would be very costly for us.

if the cooler in the room isn't doing the job... just set several bottles of water in one of the sinks filled with ice and cover with a hand towel. we always keep the ice bucket full too.

 

[kamgen]

You're not weird Ann! I think a lot of things are worth convenience over savings.....I agree with bringing water because I drink a lot, but I can easily drink tap, and just bring a bottle....lots of options.

 

[JNorris]

Isn't Evian the only water you can get from DCL? Many people don't like the taste (including me!) so I guess that's why people bring their own.

 

[Lisa0503]

Isn't Evian the only water you can get from DCL? Many people don't like the taste (including me!) so I guess that's why people bring their own.

I persoanally don't care what brand of water it is but I just can't see paying DCL abou $40 for a case of water!!! I think the price is a bit too steep. We plan on renting a car since we are staying at SSR a couple of nights before we sail and we will make a grocery stop to buy water. I will just pack it in my luggage so I won't have to lug water bottles around the ship...

 

[TLHB70]

If you like doing tours, but just don't want to do the Old Town Trolley again, consider the DC Ducks tour. It is in a neat vehicle that goes in the water like a boat, and drives on land like a bus. They even go down into the Potomac! And the tour guides are really good.

We've done the Capitol tour, and really enjoyed it. Probably more so than the White House (except when they had the Christmas trees up!) If you get the White House tour, know that you cannot bring bags of ANY KIND on the tour (no purses, nothing!) And no cameras, of course. The Smithsonian that is closed is the American History one. Our favorite is the Natural History museum, and the Smithsonian Castle was neat too. It's right across the National Mall.

As far as eating places, we always have that concern since DD9 is such a picky eater. I know that there is an ESPN restaurant (can't remember the exact name, but it's a chain), near the White House. I think there are some chain restaurants in Chinatown near the Chinatown metro stop. Will you be using the Metro? We do all the time, in fact, we rarely drive when we are there. DH's apartment is in Pentagon City, across the river, so it's very convenient to the Metro. There is a big mall there too, and it has a Ruby Tuesdays, and then just outside the mall there are several good restaurants.

I'm afraid I don't know where the Hamilton Crown Plaza is, so I don't know what is nearby.

One thing we did the last time was the International Spy Museum. We LOVED IT! You have to purchase timed tickets, so when you go, you might have to purchase tickets for later in the day if they are really busy.

Also, have you been to the National Zoo? My DD also loves the pandas, and the one that was born there 2 years ago, probably will be sent back to China soon. She was so disappointed to find out that the female turned out not to be pregnant again! If you are going to the Zoo, and are riding the Metro, there are 2 Metro stops, but one is uphill from the zoo, and one is downhill. We messed up the last time, and ended up having to walk UPHILL for 4 blocks to get to the entrance, and then of course, the whole zoo is up and down hills. Go early because it will be HOT!

I hope you guys have fun! Let me know if you have any more questions, I can always ask DH to find out stuff!

The Duck tour sounds great. We did a duck tour in Branson, Missouri when we visited there. The girls really liked it!
I have read about the spy museum. It does seem to be something we would enjoy. I will tell DH about that and about the zoo too.
I am not sure if we will be taking the Metro or not. We tried it once in NYC and got lost. We may be brave and try it here. If not, I guess we will do cabs. I know that we will not be driving around because parking is impossible and expensive!
Our hotel is at 14th and K Street. It is very close to the White House and McPherson Square Metro stop. It is directly across from the place you book/start the Segway tour. I may try to convince DH to try that.

 

[Windy City Heather]

The Metro is easy. I am not that great with public transportation. I could not have handled New York subways on my own, luckily I was with other people but the Metro was no problem. I actually liked it.

 

[kamgen]

I do think the DCL prices for water are steep too...so I am glad we have a rental and can stop at the store. I plan on bringing an empty suitcase to put the stuff we buy in, then it will be empty again for the way home to pack with the stuff I buy during the trip

Anyone see any recent Eastern Navigators online anywhere? the most recent I could find were from January. I like to get an idea of what is going on....I am such a planner and love to know!

 

[nikkistevej]

We live in Baltimore, about 30 minutes from DC, and just went to the National Zoo a couple of weeks ago. It's a really nice zoo, better than the Baltimore one, plus it's free!!! We've been there 2 times since my DD was born(she is 4- almost 5), but my DH and I went many times on school trips(a long time ago ). My DD really loves all of the animals, it is alot of walking, especially in the summer. Take a cooler with water or juices for the kids, the coolers are allowed in the zoo. Have fun!!

 

[Windy City Heather]

American's are willing to pay for bottled water and the company's know it. So, they charge a lot. When I was in Italy a bottle of water was like $.25. It really made me see how much the U.S. company's inflate the cost. Yet I still buy it because I like it better. I am an Ice Mountain girl and get upset with my hubby for buying anything else.

 

[JNorris]

The Duck tour sounds great. We did a duck tour in Branson, Missouri when we visited there. The girls really liked it!
I have read about the spy museum. It does seem to be something we would enjoy. I will tell DH about that and about the zoo too.
I am not sure if we will be taking the Metro or not. We tried it once in NYC and got lost. We may be brave and try it here. If not, I guess we will do cabs. I know that we will not be driving around because parking is impossible and expensive!
Our hotel is at 14th and K Street. It is very close to the White House and McPherson Square Metro stop. It is directly across from the place you book/start the Segway tour. I may try to convince DH to try that.

The Metro in DC is really easy. You just look to see what line you want (there's only 5 or 6 lines), and you pick the train by the last stop on that line so that you know which direction you are going in. We got the hang of it pretty quickly. It helps to have a Metro map and figure it out ahead of time.

I would LOVE to do the DC Segway tour. I rode a Segway at Epcot (not the tour, just where you get on and try it out) and was hooked. In fact, I was going to do it when we were there a couple of weeks ago, but couldn't work it into the schedule.

 

[JNorris]

Our hotel is at 14th and K Street. It is very close to the White House and McPherson Square Metro stop. It is directly across from the place you book/start the Segway tour. I may try to convince DH to try that.

OK, the ESPN restaurant is on 12th street, not far from the Warner Theater. I think it is probably 7 or 8 blocks away from your hotel. It may be too hot to try to walk it.

I'm not sure what is close by your hotel as far as kid-friendly restaurants. I'll have to check with DH to see if he knows.

 

[JNorris]

We live in Baltimore, about 30 minutes from DC, and just went to the National Zoo a couple of weeks ago. It's a really nice zoo, better than the Baltimore one, plus it's free!!! We've been there 2 times since my DD was born(she is 4- almost 5), but my DH and I went many times on school trips(a long time ago ). My DD really loves all of the animals, it is alot of walking, especially in the summer. Take a cooler with water or juices for the kids, the coolers are allowed in the zoo. Have fun!!

We were just there too! DD and I went to stay with DH for a week during 4th of July week. I love the zoo too, but boy, it nearly kills you in hot humid weather. Luckily we had fairly good weather that week, not too hot. We've been when it's in the 90's, and we've been when it's in the 30's!

DD was so disappointed when Mei Xiang turned out not to be pregnant. She is so attached to Tai Shan, she goes on the webcam about once a week to look at him!

 

[TLHB70]

OK, the ESPN restaurant is on 12th street, not far from the Warner Theater. I think it is probably 7 or 8 blocks away from your hotel. It may be too hot to try to walk it.

I'm not sure what is close by your hotel as far as kid-friendly restaurants. I'll have to check with DH to see if he knows.

Thanks for the ESPN Restaurant information. We will look for that one.

If you find out about any others from your DH, please let me know. I welcome your suggestions!


I do realize it will be hot for this trip. I plan for us to carry our battery operated misting fans. They were life savers on our trip to WDW last September. We will definitely use them in DC!
I am also a little bummed that Congress will be on vacation then. We were able to sit in on the House debating minimum wage increase on our last trip to DC. That was great! This time we will not be able to see anything like that. Oh well..................

 

[kamgen]

Just updated my signature with new pics!! Had to post!!

 

[Eorlover]

Hi Everyone,

New to this board. DD and I just booked this cruise today. We are so excited. I have so many questions if you guys are willing to answer I would appreciate it.

This is our first Disney cruise. Gosh I hope the weather cooperates and there is plenty of sun.

I didn't read through all 102 pages of posts. You guys have been chatting a long time. I hope you don't mind a newbie.

Cindy and DD Cassandra

 

[Hixski]

Welcome Eorlover!!!!!

 

[Eorlover]

Ok....here are my first 2 questions....

Do a lot of people dress for Pirate night? What does semi formal mean for Disney?

So much to learn and so little time to learn it in!

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Cindy

 

[kamgen]

Welcome Cindy!!!! We are excited you are joining us!!!

From what I understand, there are quite a few people who dress up for Pirate night....so if you want to, go for it! If you dont, you wont feel out of place!!!
Semi-formal in my opinion is like cocktail dresses, what you would wear to a wedding, etc.....hope that makes sense.....you get a wide array of stuff from people though. You will see a simple sundress to a glittery cocktail number...so you never know!

Everyone here is really nice, so read through the posts if you can to get to know everyone!!
In our group there is me, dh, 2 DS's, my mom, my aunt, my cousin, my inlaws, friends, etc!!!!

Welcome!!!