12/09/06 Cruise Continued ~ Pirating Bananas DIS Geekorama Part 2 Part 15

[lbgraves]

That's enough for me. I had no idea how they compared. Sorry but I did tune out the techie talk before...a different language to me.

 

[lbgraves]

I need to get some sleep too! I know that the kids will both be up early tomorrow morning. I HATE how they would sleep until noon on school days but are up with the sun or earlier on the weekends. I can't catch up on my sleep either.

Good night all!

 

[MrsMork]

Nope. The kids enjoy the rides the most & there were more things there that they wouldn't want to do than do. We don't have hoppers so we wanted to get the most out of our tickets in the park that we go to that day. Kaitlyn was so interested in the ruins tour & our DC trip that I think she would really enjoy the educational part of it now. I have no idea if there are any rides they will be willing to do but I will start reading up on the park & get them interested in it soon.

They will LOVE Soarin' and so will you and Mike. It is our all time favorite Disney ride. Aaron loves it too. Everyone we have taken on it (at Epcot or DL) agrees with us. It is the best. The new Nemo ride was cute too. If they are adventureous then Test Track is lots fun. It is fast, but no drops, hill or anything too scary. Several of the countries have educational ride about the country.

 

[pyramid2000]

Ok, here's my logic on this.

We were going to have a luau for Haley's bithday and by the time I buy all the groceries, drinks, party ware, favors, flowers, gifts, cake etc...I am sure I will have spent $500.

I just called John, he is at his bosses house drafting a team for both of us in the "toilet bowl".....he is feeling good......he said, "awesome deal V - I have three vacation days left before the end of Feb".....that seals the deal in my mind, don't you think?

Plus for xmas between family gifts I have $350 worth of Disney Dollars burning a hole in my purse...

Go for it V!

 

[pyramid2000]

hi everyone

we just got back from chicago with autumn, things did not go the best. we ended up with 4 surgeries. one planned 3 emergency. she was placed in a medicated coma for a few days so the swelling around her brain could go down. unfortunately it looks like she will have some permanate damage. she is unable to move her eyes fully and the pain is worse than ever. i am so happy we did our cruise when we did and i am so grateful to all of you that made it even more special. time to get some sleep will check in again real soon. 10 nights of sleeping in a hospital have exhausted me.

Hugs
Jill

I wish I could give you another hug in person Jill...

 

[pyramid2000]

The best thing about Epcot is all the characters! We see more there than anywhere else.

 

[elaineteresa]

Yeah she is on it and also Caroline (pyramid2000) is booked as well ....Wish more of you could go ...They better have Pirate Night , or I will have to make me own

are there any ports in Portugal on the mediteranean cruises? - we were looking at taking the kids to the beach in Portugal next summer - put those new passports to use.

 

[elaineteresa]

The best thing about Epcot is all the characters! We see more there than anywhere else.

I wish they would bring back the character bus - we loved that!!!

You could easily spend one whole day visiting the Kidcot stations and country pavilions and probably not get to them all. The shops and foods are fun and educational too. The intl. CM's are super friendly just like the ones at AKL.

Mouse for less I think it is has some quizzes that the kids can do around the World at Epcot. The questions involve talking to CM's - they would be perfect for William.

 

[elaineteresa]

Ok, here's my logic on this.

We were going to have a luau for Haley's bithday and by the time I buy all the groceries, drinks, party ware, favors, flowers, gifts, cake etc...I am sure I will have spent $500.


We did our first birthday party at 3 - they are a huge effort and expense. Even if you try amd go minimal, you still have to feed people. and the tableware and favors are expensive too. Luckily we had the same group of people for both kids so I feel that the $500. for both of them is not too bad - but for one that is pricey.

Enjoy the cruise!!! Is it just economics this year or is it always slow in Jan/Feb?

 

[elaineteresa]

That is so wonderful and she looks beautiful!!! DD isn't too keen on the idea but William thinks that is is very special that she did that. He just asked if he could do that. Ummm....NO!

oh come on - we have boys in Woodstock that easily have hair that long. I hope they wash it themselves. lol. We just went to see Curious George at the Sudbury school and I really wasn't sure if the child selling the popcorn was a boy or girl.

Marielle - I saw your photobook from the cruise and Hannah is beautiful with and without hair - I love that one portrait you have posted.

 

[elaineteresa]

I just got back from Old Navy where they had a lot of their winter stuff on clearance. I got really nice coats and snowpants for next winter for the kids, a winter hat and mittens set for DD, and two pairs of pants for DD for about $70.

can you guys please stop sending me on these shoppng expeditions. Old Navy is 1/2 hour away.

I guess I better get it all done because even in upstate NY we are having high 50's - think we will see flurries soon? so far we have only been snowboarding once, on Christmas day.

 

[lillygator]

Lisa, there are quite a few rides at Epcot:

Soarin
Living with the Land
also for $12 you can tour the greenhouses...they give kids ladybugs to release at the end
Spaceship Earth
Test Track
Mission Space (with a "new" version)
boat ride in Mexico
boat ride in Norway MAELSTROM!

I bet they would really enjoy coloring the mask in each country....there are tables set up with loads of markers and the CM's add a stamp to the wooden handle, a token of their country and the kids sit and color it. If they get stamps from all the countries they get a special poster at the end. The mask changes throughout the year....some will have the Flower and Garden emblems, some Food and Wine Fest...I can't tell you how many of these suckers we have....and yet, I don't think we have but one fully completed.... Future World has a different version of the mask, sort of a lanyard backstage pass looking deal, but very cute!

Characters, we probably have seen the most characters at Epcot.....the "usual" is the fab five at the character connection, Brother Bear - Koda and someone else...not sure of their names, but got their autograph, in Canada. Alice, Mary Poppins, Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore in the UK, Belle, Beast, and Aurora in France, Aladdin, Genie, Jasmine in Morocco, Pinochio and Geppeto (butchered both those) in Italy, Snow White and dwarves in Germany, Mulan and Mushu in China, outside SE you'll find Mickey and Goofy decked out in astro gear, etc.....
and of all the parks this is where we've had the best interaction. We sat at the mask table with Alice alone and she colored a mask for Samantha, for a good 20 minutes over the 4th of July weekend. I think people mainly do not come to Epcot thinking characters so they aren't looking for them or aware they are there. In UK, France, China you would pass them by and not know they are out...the rest are out front where you can kind of see.

The Santas around the World are nice, the tree lighting each night is fun and the candlelight processional is awesome. We did the dinner package as I hate standing around waiting for stuff. Epcot has a lot to offer! For me....mainly it's much slower than MK and since the countries are more spread it really never seems that crowded to me. During the Food and wine fest it gets pretty crowded on weekends but still not too bad.

 

[klineyqueen]

Can I give another vote for Epcot???? I really love that park!

 

[DisneyVegas1]

For some reason Todd I have a hard time imagining you at a place called Candy Cane Inn!

Funny thing is I have stayed there a few times ...

 

[DisneyVegas1]

are there any ports in Portugal on the mediteranean cruises? - we were looking at taking the kids to the beach in Portugal next summer - put those new passports to use.

I dont know what the ports are on the regular cruise ...But we go from Barcelona Spain to Gilbralter U.K to Cadiz Spain to the Canary Islands then head to Castaway Cay then to PC ...14 days of "magic"bliss

 

[lbgraves]

Lisa, there are quite a few rides at Epcot:

Soarin I DOUBT IT FOR THEM
Living with the Land
also for $12 you can tour the greenhouses...they give kids ladybugs to release at the end
Spaceship Earth
Test Track NOPE
Mission Space (with a "new" version) NO WAY FOR THEM OR ME
boat ride in Mexico
boat ride in Norway MAELSTROM!

They ride nothing too fast or high & no 3D movies. Looking over the passporter I know that is why we didn't go there before. We will just have to tell the kids this isn't going to be MK. At MGM DD asked where the rides were...and there weren't any she would ride there. That's what they like about MK. All of the pavilions look really interesting though. This will just be a different WDW trip for us.

 

[lbgraves]

I guess that it is back to purging the closets for me. I have put everything that we can use next year on the cruise in a bag. I also found the CC lanyards that I thought we had left on the ship with the last 2 pins. They were out in the garage in one of the mesh CC bags with our snorkling stuff. OY! Can't put things away too quickly when we get back, hon!

 

[87Heel]

Lisa,
Hannah rode Test Track in 2003; she was 5 years old (I was 6 months pregnant with Walt then, so I've never ridden it.) She is not a daredevil with rides and thought this one was fun and wanted to ride it again.

 

[pyramid2000]

I wish they would bring back the character bus - we loved that!!!

You could easily spend one whole day visiting the Kidcot stations and country pavilions and probably not get to them all. The shops and foods are fun and educational too. The intl. CM's are super friendly just like the ones at AKL.

Mouse for less I think it is has some quizzes that the kids can do around the World at Epcot. The questions involve talking to CM's - they would be perfect for William.

Did they take the character bus away?? We saw it in Sept of 05.

 

[pyramid2000]

are there any ports in Portugal on the mediteranean cruises? - we were looking at taking the kids to the beach in Portugal next summer - put those new passports to use.

Well now, if you are going to Portugal, you might as well take the Magic back home!