20050514..May 14, 2005...Official Check in Disney's 1st 14 Day thru Panama Canal

[Tigfanjeff]

Originally posted by JenKatt
you realize Lisa, that tigfanjeff, my hubby IS a monorail pilot at WDW

I am

Seriously, its a lot of fun. I'm not there for the money thats for sure. I do it on the weekends because its interesting, the discounts, and because its one of the greatest things you can have on your resume, since there aren't exactly a lot of monorail pilots out there.

 

[dianthus]

Originally posted by Tigfanjeff
Robin, I forget exactly but it isn't expensive. If I remember it was $5 for 1 card or $10 for 3. Cards are only good for the one day you are playing, and the jackpot snowballs till the end of the cruise with smaller prizes during the daily sessions.

Just got back from the 4/17 Eastern. My DD Taylor loves to play Bingo on the ship! The family pack was $35. It included 4 regular games & one jackpot prize game - six cards per sheet. You could buy a six card sheet in addition to the family pack for the jackpot game for $15.00, so spending $50 for a session of Bingo is the average for most that attend. The small pack I think was 3 cards per game & was $20. The family pack was a better deal.

I did not win this trip, but our last cruise I won a jackpot game worth $400. I just applied the cash to our onboard account & told the family to have fun! It was a really nice surprise. My DD won $178 on this last trip. She spent it in St. Thomas. Parents have to purchase the cards & claim their kids winnings. The big jackpot on the last day was worth $7000 after 6 days. One shocked lady from Massachussetts won it. Last cruise my DH was one # away from the big prize & someone shouted Bingo-gggrrrrh! He told our server that night he would have gotten the tip of a lifetime if he won! LOL! I think he was more disappointed than my husband!

Maybe if they did 2 jackpots on the 14 day - 1 snowball every six days. That would give people 2 opportunities to win big money. If they do one, I would think the reg, game jackpots could be upward of a $1000 toward the end. $17,000 is very conceivable for a prize. It will be a zoo in the WDW theatre!

Jeff~ What a fun part time job! If we go down to WDW this summer, we'll have to look for you! I bet you have alot of fun with the little kids when they ride in the front! We did that once- it was great!

 

[JenKatt]

Originally posted by Tigfanjeff
I am

Seriously, its a lot of fun. I'm not there for the money thats for sure. I do it on the weekends because its interesting, the discounts, and because its one of the greatest things you can have on your resume, since there aren't exactly a lot of monorail pilots out there.

Thank God for that... Monorail pilots are an odd ball bunch!

 

[Lisa F]

Yes, I saw that, which is why I mentioned it! I know Allen will get a total kick out of meeting someone who does that. He would pay Disney to drive the monorail if he could (instead of the other way around)! The only thing is, we don't (and won't be) living close to a park and just spent the last 5 years saving up so that we could afford a house near family in NY, so he's not going to be moving to Orlando any time soon... BUT we have talked about snowbirding when we retire so who knows (still a looooooooooong way off!) so his dream might yet come true someday. In the meantime he will have to be content collecting monorail pins and driving his little electric monorail toy (he has red and black and the switching station and miles of extra track!)

Over the 4 cruises that we have taken, we have never tried Bingo. I'm not sure why except that it seemed to occur while we were doing something else. Maybe with so many more sea days we will get to try it out! I haven't ever won anything like that in my life and joke that I used up all of my good luck finding my husband but it would probably be entertaining at the very least.

 

[Tigfanjeff]

Originally posted by JenKatt
Thank God for that... Monorail pilots are an odd ball bunch!

You bet we are.

Seriously, feel free to ask any questions you'd like. Jen will tell you that I'm more then happy to talk about it.

I do have some special monorail pins that I'll bring.

 

[Carasoyn]

Yeah! It'll take a year to save but I (Carasoyn) and my DC (TinkerBellMom) are going in 5002 cat. 8 with her DD 10 (11 by cruise date.) We can't wait.

 

[Scratch42]

Originally posted by Carasoyn
Yeah! It'll take a year to save but I (Carasoyn) and my DC (TinkerBellMom) are going in 5002 cat. 8 with her DD 10 (11 by cruise date.) We can't wait.

I sent you a PM!

Scratch

 

[JenKatt]

Originally posted by Tigfanjeff


You bet we are.

Seriously, feel free to ask any questions you'd like. Jen will tell you that I'm more then happy to talk about it.

I do have some special monorail pins that I'll bring.

He's got a bunch of Sydney (Australia) monorail pins since he found the only monorail geek there....

 

[Juli]

Hey Lisa,
We are DVC members too, since 1998. My DH gave points to me for my 40th Birthday. It has been a really great program for us.

We've been on two Disney Cruises, both using points. The Eastern 7-day for the Millenium Cruise 12/00-12/01. What an introduction to DCL! The second was this past Jan/Feb on the Western. We have yet to go on a 3 or 4 day, but I'm sure that will be in our future.

Didn't think anyone was excluding anyone from pin trading. We are very casual pin traders. I'm sure my boys would like to see some monorail pins though Jeff. We were at EPCOT two weeks ago and we had no reason to ride the monorail since our car was parked at EPCOT. Just a fun end to our day. I doubt they will trade them, but I gave them the pins all of the guest received on the '00 to ''01 cruise. I should have put them in a case I know, but they get so much enjoyment out of them. I told them they can trade them if they like, but they haven't yet. Wouldn't it be great if the guests of the repositioning cruise received special pins!

Juli

 

[Juli]

Originally posted by Lisa F
Hmmm family or disney... family or disney... That's tough. How much do you like your family? I'd probably go to Disney and have the family meet me there!

We have an ongoing debate with our CA relatives regarding WDW vs. DL. DL is "The" Magic Kingdom and I am not to forget that. This is a competitive bunch I'm part of here. No need to get into a match to see who knows their way around better. We've said we won't go, but I'm sure the subject will come up again when they realize we are coming into LA.

Juli

 

[Juli]

Late vs. Early Seating - why I choose late

Well, we've had Early seating on both of our DCL cruises. Worked out very well on the first cruise since the boys were just 5. Half or more of the Dining Room had families with young kids. This past trip I was bothered by how loud the Dining Room was and always felt rushed getting to dinner. I thought then we'd try something different next time. Also, we'll be changing time zones as we go, so we won't really be eating at 8:30 every night. If we really can't make it that late, there is so much food around that we could eat earlier and then have salads & dessert in the Dining Room. I also thought we may miss the sail-away parties with Early Seating, but looking at the schedule, I don't think either seating is going to have too much conflict with sail-aways. You have to pick one or the other and they both have their pros & cons. Now I'll have to be working to get to shows on time!

Juli

 

[Lisa F]

Juli, we have been members since 1999 and I kind of wish we had bought earlier! Our first cruise we used points. Our second cruise was a 3 day on that $99 special they had for people sailing the january after 9/11 (just happened to work out that way, we had it booked far in advance). Our third we paid cash but got a really good rate ($599 each for the western in a cat 11 and upgraded at the port for a $600 more to a verandah) and our forth we did a 4 day cruise for NYE last year. It was such a huge blast, I can only imagine what it was like on the Millennium cruise! We loved it so much that we rebooked onboard for NYE this coming year. $1600 for 3 days in a cat 11, ouch! When we found out we could have 11 more days for only $1200 more (for both of us) we jumped all over it!

We always choose late seating because we don't have kids and love a long, leisurely meal. That's a great point about the time change, I didn't even think of that!

About pins, I'm sure there will be some special pins! That's part of the reason DH wanted to take the cruise! (Okay, it's not really a reason, just a side benefit). I bet he would LOVE to see those Australian Monorail pins. Something else to look forward to!

Well I should be packing (For our move, not for the cruise... yet!) but I'd much rather play on the boards!

 

[Hygiene99]

JUST let me say that I Met the Monorail Pilot (Jeff) I used his name everywhere we went in the world Got me Absolutely NO WHERE..lol Odd bunch is right ..... Just kidding they are both great folks, like us .... lol ( Jen & Jeff ) So nice...
We also love our DVC....

HAS anybody been to Disneys California Adventure beside us 2 nuts on Opening Day lol.... it is a fun park for those who have not been we plan on going back.... after cruise....


Here is the link for the list if u wish .....http://www.tiggerfan.net/canal/

 

[JenKatt]

Originally posted by Juli
Wouldn't it be great if the guests of the repositioning cruise received special pins!

Juli

I'd be surprised if we didn't get pins, or at least have them for sale. I really think Disney is going to go all out of the first repo cruise

 

[Tigfanjeff]

Pages have been updated to include the countdown timer to the cruise.

Anyone have *ANY* other suggestions, please let me know now. Its easy to get things done while we are early in the game, it gets harder as time goes on to make changes to how pages work, how they look, etc.

http://www.tiggerfan.net/canal/

 

[moocow35]

.

 

[bonzie1]

Hello to all. We just paid our deposit to DU for the FL-CA repositioning cruise! Cat 6 room #6076. It's surprising how many are on this deck!

We're excited we made it this far with a reservation. My husband had to have a verandah... especially for a 14 day cruise. We paid our deposit so we could have more time to think about the cost (our quote was around $6,000 for 2 adults). So don't count us out yet... I'm hoping we can swing it. I'm waiting for the points to be posted on the 14th. Everywhere I've read is that the cruise is sold out, so I doubt we'll be able to use our points (sigh).

Anyway... It's Georgie (50) DW + Joe (42) DH from Yardville NJ. We're both Data Processing Analysts. This will be our 4th cruise... all of them have been with Disney.We went on the maiden voyage of the Magic where they realized they had a LOT of things to work out... but it was exciting to be the first official cruise of the line. Then we hit the DVC cruise last Feb '03 (they did pull the stops out for that one!), Then a 3 day to celebrate my 50th this past January. 14 days... now that's a lot of eating and relaxing!

I too, like all of you hope that Disney pulls out the stops for this cruise, but I've learned from the past not to get my hopes up. I would REALLY like to see Disney do a grand welcoming the morning we pull into the CA port, as this will be the first time for the Magic in CA... a girl can hope right?

Great job with the website! I will scan a picture and send it in.

Forgot to say we're in the Late Dinner seating.

 

[DisneyPinDiva]

Good Evening Everyone!
Ah yes, the PINS will be the first thng packed!! I will have to cut down on how many I bring though.. considering I will have to schlep them back on a plane from LA.... and the last time I took my pins to DLR.. it was horrific going thru airline security!! I will bring a good selection though... Can't wait to see those Australian Monorail pins!
We are also DVC and have been everywhere with our points.. including Disneyland Paris in 2001 for our 25th Anniversary. Thought about using points for this cruise.. but I"m guessing not much will be available and the points will be astronomical! We've already booked the 10 night Christmas cruise using points and it took almost 2 years worth for the two of us in steerage. That's okay though since we have our place in Orlando now we won't be using them to stay at WDW much.
We're going to try and book one of the DL resorts using points for a few nights after the cruise... have to wait until 11 months out though I believe and that won't be until the end of June. We've been to CA Adventure once ... It was nice, but I'm so spoiled with WDW... can't pass up a visit since I'll be right there though! There are always pins to get!!!

 

[Cap]

Judi (ArtistJudi) and I are also DVC members. This will be our 4th cruise, 1 on the Wonder, 1 on the Magic, 1 on another cruise line, and now this great one.

Is anyone interested in having a group (from this thread) picture done? On our last cruise, the group from that online thread had the Disney photographer do a group picture of us in the lobby outside Lumnieres.

 

[Juli]

Originally posted by Cap
Is anyone interested in having a group (from this thread) picture done? On our last cruise, the group from that online thread had the Disney photographer do a group picture of us in the lobby outside Lumnieres.

Yes, and we won't miss it this time Cap!

Juli