4/29/06 Eastern Magic...We're Going!!!!!

[partypat]

Well, I'm back.....seem to have lost track of reading the thread and posting since new years eve. My.......but you've all been busy with your everyday lives. Mine seems dull compared to all the mishaps all of you seem to experience raising your young families. I forgot about all the weekends of sitting on the sidelines cheering for the young'uns. And the adults, at times. Good going Tom. Just be careful. We want you in one piece to sprint for that hammock that we can all share.

My son (25) quit his job yesterday. He gratuated from college in Dec of 04 and has worked the last year. Evidently, he's been stashing his earnings and has decided to travel the world. He bought a ticket to Paris and leaves on Feb. 7th and plans to stay in hostels and travel around Europe. Needless to say, he'll be back for the cruise. He said he's coming back for some R & R and to fatten up on the good eats and then plans to fly out to parts unknown from Orlando. Maybe South America or Australia. I guess I've instilled my quest for travel in him. We went to England and Ireland a couple of years ago and since then, he's had the bug. After gratuation he traveled to Spain for a month with a friend and hasn't forgot the adventure. I'll miss him, but what a great opportunity. Wish I was going with him, but I guess I'll have to settle for emails. He's good at sending them.

I guess I have to get busy like the rest of you and start planning. We still need to book our airfare, not to mention what we want to do on the islands. Its not easy when your traveling with 14. Now that the holidays are over, we 're all focused on the trip. Up to that point it was hard to pinpoint anyone into a commitment. The phone calls are starting to fly, so I'd say the whole group is now focused.

As to the "Biggest Loser", I'm not IT....at least not yet. I lost 8 lbs before the holidays, but found at Weight Watchers last week that I had gained 2 lbs. Thats right. 2 big ones. I'm back in the routine and looking forwarding to fitting into that cute size 12 bathing suit thats probably moth eaten by now.

Susie: How cute your daughter is. I'd say she was worth the 10 year wait. Can't wait to meet her. My niece Kacie is 4 and she's a litte pistol and cute as a bug. I'm sure Tori and her will compete in the cute and clever contest.

Must close for now......

PartyPat

 

[partypat]

Oh...and by the way, the water has receded in Sonoma and Napa Counties and life is back to normal, at least for some of us. I feel sorry for all the folks that had flood water come into their homes and places of business. Its a messy clean up, not to mention the loss of revenue for some.

And by the way, Ohsodisney...how are you doing with the no smoking? I still have not had a cig since August 5th, but I must say that a puff on a cigar, once in awhile when there around, takes the edge off.

PartyPat

 

[Belle&RellasMom]

Jennifer...glad to hear that Kate is okay...how scary for you, Pat, and all of your emergency contact people!!! I have a very important question that you didn't address though...Did she get any paint on herself or her clothes???

 

[suziemva]

PJ - So glad that she's okay! How scary!! I really just don't know what we would do without cellphones! Do you even remember not having one?! I get in a panic if I forget mine at home or the battery dies (thank God for car chargers!). So sorry you ALL had to go through this but very happy to hear she's okay. Tell Pat...well, tell him we feel for him. So sorry.

And, yes, The Chairman is a strange cookie! But, I guess being an eccentric Millioinaire, he can afford to be!

Partypat - How exciting for your son. I always wanted to do something like that....hey, wait a minute! I did! I only went to college for 2 months (my long vacation!) and then moved out to Colorado to live with a friend. Well, we got into a huge fight and didn't speak for months! By the time that we did, I was about ready to move back home. I was only out there about 6 months. I'm so glad I came back, though! I caught up with my old boyfriend from high school (that I was infatuated with all four years!) and finally came to realize that he was such a loser! Two weeks later, I met Ed! We've been together ever since! All 18 years!!!

Glad to hear about the water receding. How scary for you guys! Strange thing is that this is such a dry year for us (so far) and you guys have had all the wetness! Although for us, it would probably have been snow (witht he luck we've had).

And thanks about Tori. I really think she's a cutie, but I don't want her growing up thinking she's IT. So, we try to be careful. But, again, Thank you!

Ooooh! Cigars?!?! The only time I ever tried was in Colorado after drinking Tequila and Mt. Dew....never been so sick in my life! WoW! You must really have an iron stomach!

Okay, I loafed enough this morning. DVR'd Lost last night and watched it this morning. Now I really need to get laundry done. One of my least favorite things to do. Wish me luck!

 

[castlegazer]

OK - first off - PhillyJen - HOly CRAP!!!!! I am sooo glad she is OK. That could have been really bad - aren't the injuries these kids get the weirdest things - it's like "think of the worst type of injury" type stuff. My son tripped at day care and somehow managed to get the corner of a child safe table attached to his eye and provide him with the rare opportunity to get stitches next to his eye. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PartyPat - nice to see you! Glad to hear the water receded. Have I ever told you my brother lives out semi near you - he lives in San Jose. He was in Florida, though during the rain. I totally envy your son!!!!! How awesome for him! Is he traveling with others?

I will weigh myself today at th gm to get an accurate reading and report back here.

Suzie - Lost was great last night!!!!

 

[PhillyJen2006]

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I am so lax about my cell phone, but this has happened more than once. Isn't is strange that it only happens when you are without the phone. Even my parents are addicted to their cell phones. She is fine today- we just got back from a bike ride(I walked) because it is an absolutely beautiful morning.

At my friends house last night, we raided her closets to see if she had matching dresses for the girls for formal night.......Bingo! 2 sets of matching dressy dresses! Gotta love that. Now the hard part is staying away from the post easter dress sales. I am REALLY trying hard to save $$ so I don't have to go back to work. Last cruise, I spent way too much on dresses for the girls-they wore them twice..

PartyPat-That sounds really exciting about your son. I bet he will gain some amazing experiences as a result of his travels! I started my job right out of college-in fact-I walked across the commencement stage into my brand new company car! I wish I had taken some time after school to find myself. Too late for me-as I have found myself the mother of 2 beautiful children now... I left my job in April after being there 11 wonderful years!

Glad to hear the flood waters have receded, however, the hard part starts now I imagine!

Alright-gotta run. Big date at the library story hour in 20! Take care everyone have a great day.

Oh-I am in training for the great Hammock dash as well. Ran 3 minutes on the treadmill yesterday(I think it only took us about 5 to get to the far end of CC so I am close)

PJ

 

[mketting]

Jen- Sorry for your big scare. Kirk always gives me a hard time when I forget my phone. I guess you know that you made good choices for your emergency contacts since they were all on the way.

St. Maarten plans- I think we are going to do the Golden Catamaran in the morning and then shop and stroll for the afternoon.

Dining Rotation- Has anyone called to request a dining rotation? I called yesterday. I acked for PLA so we would be in Lumieres for Formal and Parrot Cay for Pirate night but Debbie told me that rotation had the 5:30 time slot. That's too early for me so I asked which one had 6:00 and she said LAP so that's what I asked for and hope we get. I can't help but try to plan as much as possible ahead of time.


Biggest Loser
CastleGazer- 2/2
PhillyJen 3.6/3.6
B&R's Dad 3.6/3.6
Mketting 2/2

any more????


Gotta go now and watch the PBS special Raising Cain for work , it is about boys, how they think, how they play and anger isues etc. I work with kids who are suspended/KICKED out/waiting for alternative placements and they all come with a lot of "issues". At least my job is rarely dull.

 

[partypat]

I went to Weightwatchers tonight and I'm down 0.4. Slow going. I'll have to kick it up a notch if I want to reach my goal. I'm back to Curves 3 times a week. Maybe need to make it more.

My whole family is going to Orlando the week before the cruise. We have two Condos reserved at Trends West starting on Sat. the 22nd. Has anyone stayed there? Wish we could stay at WDW, but the condos were free as one of the family members donated their points to the cause. I haven't been to Orlando since 1987 and I'm sure it has changed. At that time, the only big attractions were MK and Epcot. Any suggestions as to what we should definitely not miss? The cost of all the parks is so expensive and with 14 of us we need to pick and choose. I also wouldn't mind some down time by the pool. Also, does anyone have any ideas about shopping and where the best deals are?

Shyla: San Jose is about 2-1/2 hours from me, but my Niece whose going on the cruise lives in Morgan Hill and works in San Jose.

PartyPat

 

[OHJulie]

PhillyJen - So glad that your daughter was fine. Isn't is amazing how your "Mommy radar" went off? That has happened to me more than once!

Partypat - Epcot is my personal favorite. I think that there is something for everyone there- great food and shopping. Oh, and the kids and I really got a kick out of Mission Space - my husband? Not so much, a little upset tummy for awhile after the ride.

Biggest loser stats: still down a total of 3. I gained some over the holidays and lost it again. I think that I am back on track.

Where do you call to request a dining rotation? I am hoping for PAT, but we are eating at the late seating and it would be great if we could get the earliest time also. Should I just let our TA know?

 

[suziemva]

BL weigh in on Wednesday...was down 2.2 lbs. Unfortunately I am down a few more tonight. Yes, we have the Second Round of the flu! Uggghhhh...I just wanna die!

 

[partypat]

Epcot is my first choice. Last time I was there it rained so hard that there was a flash flood and they closed the park. I only got to see a 1/4 of it before we had to leave in knee deep water. Very disappointing as we were flying home the next day,

Re dining rotation. We have late seating too. Coming from California we figured that would be our normal dinner time. I called my TA and she put in a request for PLA. According to the email from Disney they were going to put in my request, but it wasn't guaranteed.

Is anyone else besides Susie and Shyla watching LOST? I watched my recording tonight and I'm hooked again. Its been so long since a new one has been shown that I forgot how hooked I am on that show. They make you want more and can't wait until next week to see what happens. Thats quite a stash Charlie has. Hope Claire dosen't send him off the deep end.

PartyPat

 

[jewelgrrl]

Was reading about the rotation conversation...we asked for late seating, so what does that mean for us? I too would like the PLA. Pirates night is night four, right? If so then I should try to get Palo for night 5 or 6? Which is the best, would I be missing something one night as opposed to the other?

Also, just wanted to say we're heading down to Panama City Beach to work for a week. Tim's brother lives there and installs flooring as do we. Jan. is always slow for us here so we're going to go down to earn a little extra money in between beach time. And since they have a faster internet connection then us I'll also get in some good playing on VMK hopefully. Anyone else here play? It's addictive. I'll also be taking all our tax things to try to get all that figured out. Ahhh, the joys of self employment.

PhillyJen....What a day you had there. So glad everything turned out okay for your daughter. I would have been freaking out for sure.

PartyPat....I'm so jealous of your son too. I've always wanted to travel the globe. Heck, I'd settle for going on a cross country trip. So far the furthest I've been from my KY home has been Alaska for a month. And it was Jan. of all months to be there. It was sooooo cold you really couldn't enjoy much. When you went outside your nose hairs literally froze together! Might be more then you wanted to hear there, sorry. Okay, other than the frozen tundra and airports the furthest west I've been-Springfield, MO...north-Cincinatti, east-Outer Banks, NC, and south-Ft. Myers, FL. So this cruise is really a big deal for me. I'm so excited!

Also, I'm a huge fan of Lost as well. Haven't missed one episode. Last nights was great and nerve racking as usual.

And as far as can't miss at WDW...Wow that's a toughie as I can hardly miss anything. Depends on how many days you can go. With 3 days if you got hoppers you could see some of the major things in all four parks. Especially if you time it where MGM is one of the EMH at night with doing AK in the day. Here's what I would do with 3 days...
Epcot-Mission Space...if you don't think you'll get sick, Test Track, Soarin'...twice, tour the countries, definately seeing China show(best imo), and Illuminations
MK-all the mountains, Pirates, w/ kids all of Fantasyland or w/out at least Mickey's Philarmagic, IASW, Peter Pan, and Wishes
AK-Can easily tour it all first part of day then head to MGM for Car Show first because these others can be done during EMH-RnRCoaster, Tower of Terror, Little Mermaid show, Star Tours, Muppets 3D Also, Fantasmic. As far as parades, I think AK has the best and also Electric Parade at MK is awesome. Others can be skipped. HTH!
I guess if I had to choose one park though then it would have to be MK.


Well, until next time, April

 

[castlegazer]

mketting, I watched last night too, and was just writing and e-mail about it to my girlfriend. Here is what I said about the program (it's important to note that I live about 20 minutes from most of the places that were filmed and my son is truning 4, so the same age as the children in the first part at the school in Grafton, MA) I am also off to go to the web site because my girlfriends says that that is very good:

I hated it. It was a waste of two hours. The only two parts that I thought were interesting was the focus on single sex education for boys - a drum beat that is not heard often enough in this society as the drum beat for single sex female education takes the limelight way too often - and the part of the theatrical gang rape of Snow White and how he counseled the school on how to handle it - I totally disagreed with the outcome, but what was interesting was his insight into the psychological nature of what the boys were trying to invoke in their representation of the act.

What I hated most was the lack of a conclusion. The overwhelming outcome to last night's show was that fathers were important - completely old information and completely not earth shattering but tells us nothing about how to raise our children in a society that is not suddenly going to produce responsible fathers - and that it's OK to allow your children to show violent behavior. I was shocked by this and completely don't understand how those children even had the concept of such death acts. I would be horrified if Quinn was telling stories of people being killed. He is completely not exposed to that type of violence at this age and his mind does not go to violent acts all the time as they inferred that boys his age all do. He is interested in competitive imagination play and that dominates his playtime, but not violence at all - in fact he is often saddened by minor acts of violence and we need to make sure he does not see it in film all that often because it affects him so adversely.



So, anyways, thank you for the heads up about this - I was going to watch anyways as I had heard about it on NPR. I did gain a lot of insight last night into many horrifying aspects of boys and gangs, but I did not gain overall what I would have expected from the program.

Oh, I thought of another part that I was slightly horrified by and mad at the lack of a conclusion for except to be told that they need male teachers – that was the part about the overwhelming percentage of medicated boys in our schools. I did like that they were advocating for more recess, but that is sooo not going to happen. But it’s worth noting that boys just need to take a walk sometimes.

 

[castlegazer]

mketting, you are sooooo going to love the Golden Eagle Catamaran! It was super fun - but gotta tell you that it is a big party - kids were on board too and they had a ton of fun too - but its very early in the morning, they serve rum punch and beer and the men on the boat are beeeeaaaaauuuuuuuuttttiiiiful! They play reggae and its a rockin good time on the way back. My favorite Honeymoon pic is one where I am holding up a beer and turning my wrist so that you can see the time on my watch - It's 8:30 am! Oh YEAH!!!!!!

As for the actual sightseeing portion - you go to a beautiful deserted island for the snorkeling and its very good - there were also some nude sunbathers there who were on boats and did a show for us - probably happens everywhere in St. Maarten - but these guys were funny, and not quite as bad as some of the naked people you tend to see at the beaches - they were worth a looksie or two. They also take you for a cruise around half of the island. It is beautiful and a wonderful was to get out on the water.

We really had a blast as did everyone else we were on the boat with. We then got off and went up Front Street and sampled runs for free at all the shops - well, let's just say that I needed to go lay down for a while before dinner.

 

[castlegazer]

partypat - YOu will have to get to AK while you are down there if its been that long since you have been - Everest will be open too by then - how cool! The safari is very nice too - but it should only be about a half a day for just adults.

I would say, just explore - one of the things I enjoyed the most, after going back after a long hiatus, was Downtown Disney, the Boardwalk, and Pleasure Island. It was like suddenly Disney made Disney for me and my fellow adults! Totally savvy on their part as Boomers are important and my generation grew up on Disney. You can spend a day at Downtown Disney now. It is very cool. Our favorite thing to do - prekids - is to go out to drinks and apps at one restaurant, dinner at another, and then desert at the Jazz Club in Pleasure Island after a stop at Adventurer's Club and the Comedy Warehouse. All three places are adult meccas. A DIS friend of mine from Boston loves Jelly Rolls on the Boardwalk - a dueling piano bar. I love Spoodles and the Brewery over there and my husband likes to stop in at ESPN.

I am not a huge fan of MGM - but then again, I am soooo big into UNiversal that its such a pale comparison (except Rockin Roller Coaster which is awesome!), that it's not surprising that I don't like it all that much. I even am kinda so so on the Tower of Terror. There are soooo many better rides over in Universal.

The best shopping is in Orlando is at the outlets and the Character Warehouse. But ultimate Disney shopping is in Downtown Disney East Side.

 

[castlegazer]

Suzie, this will be your post, but I will also address rotational dining here too - but that is relevant to you so that's why you get it in here too.

I hope you feel better soon - we also had that nasty thing rebound on us too. Quinn got it twice and my husband did too. That stunk!!!!!

As for rotational dining - after watching the cruise boards for two years now, I have decided I don't give a damn. I really could care less. At first when I heard that people would call up and request it, I thought, oh my God I have to request LAPLA or whatever! I have to do it NOW!. Well, then I began thinking about why people were hyper over it and it only had to do with the Formal night and then I learned that Disney assings people with children automatically into the rotation that people were clamoring for. I began to calm down about it. It's one less thing that I have to worry about with the cruise - or be dispointed about if it doesn't come through. I don't give a damn where my formal night is - after sailing on multiple cruise lines I have learned it matters not in the least what the hell the dining room looks like around you. I also trust that Disney knows what rotation is best for me and my family.

So, have at it - request away and Suzie if you want to request, feel free to, but I will not be adding that to my list of things to worry about. I have a long enough list as it is.

 

[castlegazer]

To all the Lost fans out there:



I think Echo is one of the most interesting characters on TV!

 

[castlegazer]

I know a bunch of you don't watch the main Cruise Board so I thought I'd give you all head's up about a change on the kid's clubs the first night that is being discussed. It's important as we approach our time for making ressies:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=998798

 

[suziemva]

I really have no thoughts one way or the other about dining rotation. The food is the same at each restaurant, so it's not like you're losing out on anything special. We had a great time last year and really enjoyed our rotation. We had PLAPLAP if anyone wants to know. I just love that you get to enjoy each restaurant twice on the cruise! Loved it! My only hope is that we get a better table than last time. Had a hard time seeing the "show" in AP because of where we were situated. Kinda a bummer! But we had such fabulous wait staff and had such a good time with them!

So, no, we won't be requesting any specific rotation. I also feel just take what you get that way you're not dissapointed if you don't get it!

To all that are requesting or really want a certain one, don't read me wrong. To you it may be very important - and that's okay! To me, I really don't have feelings about it. For all that request, GOOD LUCK/pixie dust for getting what you want! It's a wonderful cruise, so enjoy!!!

Okay, weighed in today (this is NOT for BL, btw!) and I lost 6.5 lbs in the last few days....mostly to my flu episode. I feel so much better today, but still not on top of the game...so, here's hoping that I can eat today and enjoy my hubby coming home early! Yes, he left for work at 8:30 this morning and called me at 10:10 that he's on his way home for the day!!!! He'll be home in time to go get Tori from school and we can have a wonderful family day today! Gotta love it!

Hey, are we going to meet up on formal night? I would love to get a picture of all of us together in our Gear! How fun is that?!?! Just a thought.....but you will find I am a TOTAL picture hound! Always have a camera on me and an extra 512 memory card! I just have a hard time remembering extra batteries! So, beware all camera shy people! I will be ready!

 

[suziemva]

I know a bunch of you don't watch the main Cruise Board so I thought I'd give you all head's up about a change on the kid's clubs the first night that is being discussed. It's important as we approach our time for making ressies:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=998798

CG - I just don't have time to read all the nine pages of posts. Can you paraphrase for us? I think it will affect most of us on THIS board since we have kids or grankids going.

Thanks so much!