12/10/05 ~ Anyone else cruising.....??

[wingawh]

For those of you staying in the port area on Friday night (12/9) where are you staying? ANy great deals?

We are thinking of renting a car and driving to the Cape on Friday.

 

[cristit14]

I think we will be staying in Orlando Friday night, but I think Lisa and her family will be at Radisson at the Port. Is it terrible that I don't have it figured out yet where we will be before the cruise? I think we will probably fly in Wed night and then to the parks on Thursday and Friday. I need to figure out which days will be cheaper to fly in on pre cruise or post cruise.

 

[MrsMork]

We will be at OKW several nights. We have to enjoy the parks when we can.

 

[Jhalkias]

We will be at the Radisson with Lisa and her Family the Friday night before. We will be renting a car to get to the port - but are probably going to be arriving in the late afternoon/Early evening on Friday.

We are doing the parks after the cruise - staying at OKW for a couple of nights, heading home on Monday.

John

 

[MrsMork]

Jordan, have you got your AP yet? We head south in a week. Hope we can have a meet at DL.

 

[lillygator]

I am pretty sure we will be staying at one of the WDW resorts and going to MVMCP the night before.....

 

[lillygator]

Lisa - I hope you guys are doing ok....it has been so rainy. My mom and sister went to MK on Wednesday night and they said it was fine - so hopefully you are all dry!

 

[missmulan]

Jordan, have you got your AP yet? We head south in a week. Hope we can have a meet at DL.

if you are visiting Knotts Berry Farm, I can mail you coupons. And if you're going to Six Flags, it's buy one get one free with a Coke Can.

 

[MrsMork]

We never liked Six Flags..too hot, too cold, too long waiting in hot or cold lines. So. Guess we won't be stopping there. But thanks for the tip. We have not been to Knotts since we moved from So. Cal in 1987. We just love Disney so much that we spend our time there. We went 5 days to Disney last year, but will only have 3 days to spend there this year. We have family from Colorado and Arizona meeting us there and they want to see the beach and visit with some family as well. That will cut our Disneyland time to 3 days.

Would love to meet you there if you get the chance to go on June 20-23. Meeting over a turkey leg would be fun.

 

[missmulan]

i don't have an ap anymore. it expired a few months ago and i've decided not to renew it until way after the cruise. between school (we're on year round schedule) and swim lessons, i found it hard to get to DL/DCA. plus i work PT on the weekends....every weekend.

you have fun tho'...post some pics of your trip!!

 

[lbgraves]

Well, we are back. There was good & bad on the trip. We started out being 7 1/2 hours late getting to Kissimmee. The kids were great on the train though so that was good but in our excitement to finally get off the train, I left our newer digital camera in the seat & even though we went right to the desk to report it & that guy radioed the conductor, noone "found" it. I had our 1.3 MP as back up along with 4 rolls of 35mm but it just wasn't the same. We do have some pics but not as nice or as many as we could have had with our favorite camera. Guess that means that I need to start searching for another good deal on that.

I have to recommend the town car company that we used VERY much!!! Magic Transportation is the best in my book. Even though our train was so late, the driver was waiting for us at the station when we got off the train!!!! I swear that I could have cried because I never would have expected him to be there at that time. I figured that we would have to wait, and IMO that wasn't unreasonable with the delay. He had autograph books for the kids & Mickey pens along with the boosters & delux stroller that we had requested. He told DH to take his time at the grocery store since we had problems on the trip...23 hours on the train is NOT my recommended way to get to FL BTW. You can reach them at jeanette@magictransportation.com
321-228-0436. They do take people to the cruise ship too and we will call them if we ever decided not to drive to FL again.

We went to POP & checked in. Honestly, I wasn't too impressed with the resort and rate it a 4 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best. I wrote up an email to send to WDW guest relations as I sat with the luggage on the last day while the kids stayed in the pool. We were pretty much stuck there for the last day since their luggage check system is TOTALLY inefficient & unorganized. VERY upset with that situation...noone in our line was helped during the 45 minutes we were in line. Also the walls were paper thin. There were screaming kids on both sides of us & noisy people behind us. I was woken up a couple times a night by everything until I remembered that we had brought earplugs for the train...so I did sleep well the last night. We have never had that problem at ASMo or on the ship...with MUCH thinner walls...so I didn't think that was acceptable. The food court was ok but they didn't have milk available with the mug program like they do at the AS resorts and the icey machine broke after 2 days there so the kids were limited to getting apple juice with their mugs.

We did MGM on Tuesday and OMG it was hot!!!! Thanks to the boards we used the FPs like pros and saw everything that the kids were interested in. We were there 8 am -11:30 pm and didn't stand in too many lines, except for the stunt show & Indiana Jones FP lines. Both were worth it. DS LOVES the Star Tours ride now...after I dragged him on it & he hopes that your DD likes it too, John, so they can ride it together after the cruise. DTD & the pool was our agenda on Wednesday.

Thursday was MK. Well, I guess our luck ran out as far as the weather that day. We stayed 9 - 11:30 but did get pretty wet. It held off until 10:40 when we were waiting to see the Cindi show but it was cancelled & the first downpour started. The 11:40 show got to the coronation but was stopped mid way thru. The 12:40 show never started so we finally got to to see the entire thing at the 1:40 show...and I think that was the only one that ran the rest of the day. We used tons of FPs...especially after DS discovered that he also loves the Big Thunder Mountain RR more than Goofy's barnstormer. ROFL! DD & I even got to stand in line for 50 minutes to get her picture with Ariel by giving the boys all 4 FPs for Buzz & BTMRR to keep them busy while we waited. DD's smile was worth it though when Ariel complimented her on her expert use of a dinglehopper. Now we don't need to do that wait again! LOL! We did get to see an abbreviated 3 pm parade that day & all of Spectro!!! The kids both passed out before Wishes started so DH & I hit BTMRR & he tried out Splash Mountain before the park closed. It was quite a feat getting both kids, strollers, the cooler, & backpack on the bus & to the resort.

Friday was spent recovering & we returned to DTD for a little bit, then checked out The Wilderness Lodge. Saturday was at the pool by default and we got back to the train station at 3:30. The train was 2 1/2 hours late leaving but made up an hour on the way home. Thankfully the switches were working & we just rolled thru...and I slept alot more on the return trip.

 

[missmulan]

welcome back lisa! sounds like a "whirlwind" trip! do you need another vacation? j/k. all the bads will turn into good memories some day. but of course, we all remember the good more than the bad.

 

[MrsMork]

Welcome back, Lisa. Thanks for the tip on the towncar. Sounds like they provide excellent service. We always need a lift as we have to fly. Off to work now. Have a magical day everyone!

 

[MrsMork]

We will be driving south Friday. Will be at DL and CA Monday, Tues and Wed. We are VERY excited.

Jordan, sending you a PM

 

[lillygator]

Hi Lisa and welcome back!

Sorry to hear that the rain got ya....it has been pretty bad here lately.

6 more months and we'll all be cruisin'! Now I am just waiting to book all those ressies ahead of time!!

Is anyone going to MVMCP on the 9th?

 

[cristit14]

Lisa~ Welcome back! Jacob loves Big Thunder Mountain RR too. That was his favorite ride!

Lillygator~ Could you explain MVMCP to me? I keep hearing about it, but I don't know exactly what it is. We will be in Orlando on the 9th probably at MK.

 

[jordanyosh]

Angie,

My work schedule is crazy this week. I've actually been to DTD a few times in the last few days--busy. IF I can make it, it would be Tuesday night......I will give you a call...



To all,

Sorry, I haven't been around in a long time. Work has kept me busy and I am trying to have some sort of social life and trying to get out more. Been helping a family plan their WDW vacation in August. Has really gotten me riled up for our trip. Plus, my cousin got a DVC dvd which she can use to entice folks to buy into DVC. So I had to watch........

 

[cristit14]

Angie~Have a great trip to DL!!!!!!!

 

[Jhalkias]

Cristi,

I'll jump in on MVMCP since I haven't been around for a while . . . we had a graduation party to take care of, and moving a son to college . . .

During certain nights in Dec, the MK closes, and then re-opens for MVMCP, which requires a separate ticket. Everything has a holiday theme, and there are two performances of the parade - one I think at 8:00, and one at 11:00. Mickey and Minnie are usually near City Hall for visits with the kids, and all the "major" attractions are open.

There are several places where you can get free hot chocolate and cookies, and there is "snow" on Main Street USA. There is also a performance of the fireworks show late - Wishes last year.

There will also be a place where they will take a photo of your family that is included, and many families go all in their holiday dress to have their picture taken. You get the picture in the mail several weeks later. Last year they did the pictures in the "Time Traveler" attraction in Futureworld.

Every time we have gone, we have been happy because it does not seem as crowded to us - and the attractions seem pretty easy to get on and off. Last year we had GREAT seats for the parade, as most people saw the early one, and we stayed right up until closing.

It is a fun, festive, Holiday time at MK - but it may be too late if you want to stay until closing before the cruise.

John

 

[lbgraves]

I have been busy working on that first cruise scrapbook & almost all of the journaling is done. Tomorrow I am taking the kids to the scrapbook store to work on pounding the eyelets in place...though I might just buy the kit along with some other new supplies while we are there. I am so excited! I just ordered our new camera today and it should be here by 7/1!!!!!!!!!! All I can think of is what great pictures we are going to have from this cruise & trip to WDW. I can get all the pictures that I missed...or turned out too blurry with the dino digital...on this last trip. La La La!!!

I did clean out the night table the other day & considered taking the Christmas cards out to address for this year to get that out of the way. NO, Amy! I'm not packing yet!