8/17/2008 Double Dip 4-day Wonder

[Coach Rick]

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Coach Rick...........how fun to coach girls ice hockey. Alli thought about giving it a try but for now is sticking with soccer. She likes being a goalie and making mom here nervous. I have 2 nephews in Richmond that have been playing ice/roller hockey since they were about 4. They travel all over the place. We try and see their games as much as we can when they are near. The one nephew when he was 9/10 played on the national junior hockey team, and they won. It was great fun for the kids. There is a fun book to read called "The Hockey Dad Chronicles." It was informative and funny. It can be apllied to most travel team sports. Good book to read on the cruise.

It is a blast, and I am honored to have been one of 5 coaches to have started girls ice hockey for high school in the state of RI 6 years ago. We have grown the league from 5 teams to 10 and most likely 12 next year. My oldest DD, Amy (22) has been playing for 17 years now, and is a goalie at Salve Regina University, where she will be a senior next year. In high school she was the only girl on a boys team, and got plenty of playing time against the boys. She also got selected to be one of 12 goal tenders nationally to attend the "National Goaltender Camp" in Colorado Springs while she was a senior in high school. In 2001 she made it to the final tryout for the US Olympic Team. at 17. My youngest DD (13) has been playing for 7 years, and my DS (17) has been on the ice since he was 2 1/2. Yep as soon as he could walk we strapped skates on him. I'll have to look for that book. Thanks for the tip....

 

[Dizzyworld]

It is a blast, and I am honored to have been one of 5 coaches to have started girls ice hockey for high school in the state of RI 6 years ago. We have grown the league from 5 teams to 10 and most likely 12 next year. My oldest DD, Amy (22) has been playing for 17 years now, and is a goalie at Salve Regina University, where she will be a senior next year. In high school she was the only girl on a boys team, and got plenty of playing time against the boys. She also got selected to be one of 12 goal tenders nationally to attend the "National Goaltender Camp" in Colorado Springs while she was a senior in high school. In 2001 she made it to the final tryout for the US Olympic Team. at 17. My youngest DD (13) has been playing for 7 years, and my DS (17) has been on the ice since he was 2 1/2. Yep as soon as he could walk we strapped skates on him. I'll have to look for that book. Thanks for the tip....

That is really exciting Rick. What a great adventure for all of you. Is Amy going to play or coach after college? I've seen a few teams where there was one girl on the team, but not as a GK. That's pretty impressive. The tryout for the Olympic team at her age must have such an exciting time for all of. I met a family where there were 4 girls in the family and they were all very into soccer. The last daughter just graduated from college 2 weeks ago. The mother is so sad since she won't be able to watch any of them play soccer anymore. She says she won't know what to do with her time in the fall. She would fly from MN to NC for weekend games.

Even though Alli isn't near any club team level, it is something we look forward to each year. The summer she does swim team and to me it the most boring thing to live through. We are a soccer family. We had a bye on Mother's Day and the coach sent a letter to all of us asking us to stay away from the fields and go do something else for the day. It was tough.

 

[Coach Rick]

That is really exciting Rick. What a great adventure for all of you. Is Amy going to play or coach after college?

Yes, her whole intent was to be able to coach after graduation. In fact I intend on retiring from coaching after she graduates, and handing over the reins to her.

She has been coaching the past couple of years during the summer. She if a far better coach than I. At first she insisted I get on the bench with her, but I assured her and the girls I was only there to open the bench door. I was able to step away after a couple of weeks as her strength as a leader took over. She will be one heck of a coach IMNHO.

Gotta have something for the kids to do today. When I was growing up I had Drum and Bugle Corps, but today there are no longer any "junior" corps left in my area, so I had to find something else for them to look forward to, much as you have done with soccer. My youngest is into soccer also. Not on any travel team, but just local recreational. As AD at my school, I consistently get girls that are very shy, never played any sports, and I get them involved, and they change completely, and become very confident in themselves. It's really exciting and rewarding to watch.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

I guess I forgot to announce that my DD (13) and I are joining this crew too. I've been reading this board for a while, and thought I had. Also, I am getting the cruise for this AUG confused with the '08 cruise. We went back and forth (well, I did) between DCL/WDW or just a RCCL Freedom class cruise. Alli really wants to do DCL since she will move up to the teen group. Plus when I asked her where she wanted to go for our "Girl's Only Vacation" she responded with "You have to ask?" That's my Disney girl.

My DH and I talked about it and felt that I could give her a little move freedom on DCL than on RCCL. Plus we both know what to expect, and she knows the ship layout, etc. It is very comfortable for both of us. And my DS doesn't want us to go on a new ship without him. So Alli and I will do a little WDW before the cruise, then we will be on the Wonder with all of you.

I thought I was the only one confusing August 2007 & August 2008 cruises. I'm boarding for the 3 night Wonder just as you are leaving your 4-night Wonder. I did learn that CM Pikey from our 2006 cruise is switching to the Wonder next month. And someone posted that a bunch of Magic CMs did not want to sail the Med and have switched to the Wonder. Will be interesting to see who's onboard.

I totally agree with you about the "comfort" of being on a DCL cruise and letting your kids be able to go around the ship on their own. Its why we stayed with Disney for 2008.

I will admit that if DCL takes the Magic out of the Caribbean again in the summer of 2009 that we will most likely book a different cruise line as we really want a 7-day summer Caribbean cruise and there are plenty of alternatives and the kids will be old enough that its not as much of an issue. I suspect a bunch of our cruising castaway buddies feel the same way.

Coach Rick......thanks for giving us your background. Have a neat story along that line. Last night I was at my Girl Scout Council awards dinner and one of the high school girls was telling the audience about her Gold Award project. She started a middle school field hockey team from scratch because one did not exist and she wanted to create a "feeder" team for the high school. Wow....then goes on to say that she hopes the experience she gained will help her on the next stage of her life when she attends the U.S. Naval Academy in the fall.

My DD is into softball. She cannot understand why only the men's professional baseball teams get to have televised games. She wonders why there isn't "major league softball". Could not answer that one for her.

 

[Coach Rick]

:
Coach Rick......thanks for giving us your background. Have a neat story along that line. Last night I was at my Girl Scout Council awards dinner and one of the high school girls was telling the audience about her Gold Award project. She started a middle school field hockey team from scratch because one did not exist and she wanted to create a "feeder" team for the high school. Wow....then goes on to say that she hopes the experience she gained will help her on the next stage of her life when she attends the U.S. Naval Academy in the fall.

My DD is into softball. She cannot understand why only the men's professional baseball teams get to have televised games. She wonders why there isn't "major league softball". Could not answer that one for her.

That's cool. I had a girl playing for me when I coached the Woman's Ice Hockey team at Wheaton College that started a girls ice hockey team at her high school before graduating. I have lots of respect for young people that don't take "there is no team" for an answer!

They have bounced around talk of a professional womans ice hockey league since the winter olympics in 98, but it's just not going to happen, because the people with the money are afraid they will loose it on female sports...HA! Would it be as big as mens sports? Not to start with, but given time and experience. One thing I will say, girls tend to play with more "heart" than men! I work as an off ice official at Providence College games, and I can honestly say I would prefer working the woman's games than the mens. Sure the mens games are faster, (that aspect is getting closer), but the womans games are a purer form of the sport. No hitting even at college level, therefore more skating better puck handling, not to mention, when the come visit me in the "sin bin" (penalty box for the uninitiated), they smell better.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

No hitting even at college level, therefore more skating better puck handling, not to mention, when the come visit me in the "sin bin" (penalty box for the uninitiated), they smell better.

Reminds me of my kids' little league teams......after a good inning DDs softball team will sit on the bench and start singing whereas DSs baseball team will sit on the bench and make farting noises with their armpits.

 

[Lynda Silk]

Coach Rick, it's great to see another supporter of girl's hockey! Up here in Canada, we're very proud of our women's national hockey team and it's amazing to see how many girls' leagues there are now. Cassie Campbell, the former captain of the Canadian women's hockey team, used to go to my son's high school, and the mayor of our city is very supportive of the women's hockey league and our local team, so we are well aware of how great the sport is for us females in our area! And wow, how incredible that your daughter tried out for the Olympic team! Maybe she should come up here and help out my poor Leafs!

Also, it was neat to see your reference to the drum and bugle corps! I used to be a baton twirler and we had drummers who often played in those bands as well. I still love to hear the drum and bugle corps whether it's in a parade or in one of their televised competitions!

Ski-and-Sea, I could totally identify with your story about the boys making those armpit noises! That's what the boys on my DS's baseball team did most of the time; no wonder they didn't win too many games! And I loved the story about the girl at the Girl Scout Council Awards Dinner.

Dizzyworld, welcome aboard! It must be so nice to have more than one cruise booked! I sure envy people like you and Ski-and-Sea!

So many interesting people seem to be on this cruise, and the kids sound great too!

 

[Coach Rick]

Coach Rick, it's great to see another supporter of girl's hockey! Up here in Canada, we're very proud of our women's national hockey team and it's amazing to see how many girls' leagues there are now. Cassie Campbell, the former captain of the Canadian women's hockey team, used to go to my son's high school, and the mayor of our city is very supportive of the women's hockey league and our local team, so we are well aware of how great the sport is for us females in our area! And wow, how incredible that your daughter tried out for the Olympic team! Maybe she should come up here and help out my poor Leafs!

Also, it was neat to see your reference to the drum and bugle corps! I used to be a baton twirler and we had drummers who often played in those bands as well. I still love to hear the drum and bugle corps whether it's in a parade or in one of their televised competitions!

When we started the high school league, 6 years ago, there were about 70 girls total between 5 teams. We now have in excess of 200 playing, and more coming up. They now see they have a place to play, and represent their schools.

Did you watch the cup finals last night? I was kind of happy for the Ducks. See Disney should have held on to them.

I am still involved in the Drum Corps activity. In fact I will be competing in the World Championship in Rochester, NY Labor Day weekend. I will also be performing in the solo competition on my horn.

You are right, this looks like a lively group indeed, and I can't wait to meet everyone. By the time we set sail we will all be old buddies.

 

[Lynda Silk]

I was kind of happy that the Ducks won the Cup because of Selanne. But I have to admit that I was really cheering for Ottawa (and as a Leaf fan, you won't believe how it kills me to admit that) because they're a Canadian team. But the Ducks deserved it and at least Ottawa made it to the finals this year.

How cool that you are still involved in the drum corps scene! You must be really excited to be competing in the solo horn competition in Rochester! As I alluded to previously, just the sound of a drum corps in the open air gives me shivers! I just love to hear them. Some years ago, I watched Drumline and just loved it!

 

[Coach Rick]

425 days to go from today...Any newbies haven't checked in yet?

Now besides my parents coming on this cruise, my DB-I-L and his family are now booked too.

Geesh, I can't wait....

Lets get it start-ed-ed, Lets get it start-ed-ed

 

[Lynda Silk]

Wow, Coach Rick, you're so lucky to be going with so many people! I would love for other members of my family and/or friends to come with us too, but we can never coordinate our schedules and budgets.

Watched the DCL video again the other night and of course, that just made the waiting that much harder for next year! At least I'm going to Disney in a few weeks (first week of July) so that will be good!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

I know what you mean about bringing the family. We tried to get the extended family to come with us before but when it came time to make the reservation, half the family backed out and decided on October since it was so much cheaper. But we didn't want to pull the kids out of school.

We took my mom on our last Wonder cruise and it was terrific sharing that experience with her. She still talks about the great massage she had at the spa.

School is out for us now. Wow - June was just nuts with school/sports/scouts. I am so happy to see almost nothing on my calendar from now on.

 

[Dizzyworld]

Happy 4th of July Everyone!!!!!

 

[Lynda Silk]

Hi everyone,
We were in WDW last week and saw the 4th of July fireworks at Epcot! They were amazing! I saw Dizzyworld's post and just had to share that with you! I hope everyone had a good July 4th!

I wanted to ask a question too about the pirate night on the cruise. Is this a separate party or is it a themed night in the restaurants? Do people wear things that are related to pirates in the restaurants? I was on the 7 day cruise in 2004 and I know that they gave out bandanas for people to wear and that some people dressed up in pirate gear, but I wasn't sure if it was the same on the 4 day double dip cruise. If anyone can let me know, I'd appreciate it.

I can't help but do some planning for the cruise now even though it's more than a year away! Especially since we were in WDW last week, it's as if I need to do something to get that Disney fix!

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

Hi everyone,
We were in WDW last week and saw the 4th of July fireworks at Epcot! They were amazing! I saw Dizzyworld's post and just had to share that with you! I hope everyone had a good July 4th!

I wanted to ask a question too about the pirate night on the cruise. Is this a separate party or is it a themed night in the restaurants? Do people wear things that are related to pirates in the restaurants? I was on the 7 day cruise in 2004 and I know that they gave out bandanas for people to wear and that some people dressed up in pirate gear, but I wasn't sure if it was the same on the 4 day double dip cruise. If anyone can let me know, I'd appreciate it.

I can't help but do some planning for the cruise now even though it's more than a year away! Especially since we were in WDW last week, it's as if I need to do something to get that Disney fix!

Yes, the pirate night is identical on the 4-day Wonder as the Magic. You get the special pirate night menu and the bandana in the restaurant and the deck party later.

We plan on dressing up in costumes. Last cruise we all had matching black t-shirts but this year we've got pirate costumes with pirate hats. Where else but on DCL can adults dress up and act silly.

How wonderful to be in WDW on the 4th. That day was a real bust here in NJ - rainy and cold. Not very festive at all. Making up for it this week with temps in the 90s and blaring sunshine.

 

[Coach Rick]

Hi everyone,
I wanted to ask a question too about the pirate night on the cruise. Is this a separate party or is it a themed night in the restaurants? Do people wear things that are related to pirates in the restaurants? I was on the 7 day cruise in 2004 and I know that they gave out bandanas for people to wear and that some people dressed up in pirate gear, but I wasn't sure if it was the same on the 4 day double dip cruise. If anyone can let me know, I'd appreciate it.

I can't help but do some planning for the cruise now even though it's more than a year away! Especially since we were in WDW last week, it's as if I need to do something to get that Disney fix!

I'm with ya on the planning thing. We were dressed for our dinner. In fact we even had a formal portrait done with our pirate stuff. It happened that it was on our 25th anniversary day. (good timing) There were even many that dressed for the show in the theater. I know it is something I really look forward to it. That is the next problem I have. I gotta come up with an excuse for my kids to pack pirate outfits, since they won't know anything about the cruise part.

 

[Lynda Silk]

Thanks for letting me know about pirate night! I bought a scarf in the store at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride with skulls and crossbones on it that I thought I could wear for that night but wanted to make sure that it was pirate night and not just tropical night. And you're right! Where else but at WDW or on DCL can you dress on and feel so good about it! That's one thing I love about WDW; you see so many adults wearing crazy hats and it's so cool!

Coach Rick, I was telling my sister about how you're going to surprise your kids with the cruise when we saw one of the DCL buses; she thought that that was such a neat idea! But yes, it will certainly be a challenge to pack those pirate costumes without giving it away!

Sea-and-Ski, it was so nice to spend July 4 in WDW! My friend saw the fireworks last year and was so impressed that I had to see them for myself. We had some rain too; usually there was a big storm at around 4pm for about an hour and then it cleared up so it wasn't too bad. We certainly got used to wearing those rain ponchos!

 

[Dizzyworld]

That is the next problem I have. I gotta come up with an excuse for my kids to pack pirate outfits, since they won't know anything about the cruise part.

You could always mail them to your stateroom. Just do it at least 2 weeks before so it makes it on the ship.

 

[Ski-and-Sea]

You could always mail them to your stateroom. Just do it at least 2 weeks before so it makes it on the ship.

That's an excellent idea.....last year we shipped a box to our stateroom and it made it no problem. We shipped via UPS.

 

[Coach Rick]

You could always mail them to your stateroom. Just do it at least 2 weeks before so it makes it on the ship.

If I weren't so paranoid I would definitely do that. I would be so afraid the packages would not arrive.

I think I came up with a way, although it will require a small white fib to my kids, but the end result will be awesome. I will simply concoct a story about how they are having pirate night at Pleasure Island. My kids think I am Walt reincarnated, so they won't dare question me. I have been dancing around the passport thing. We are going to Buffalo and Rochester Labor Day weekend, and I told them in the event we go into Canada to visit the falls, I don't want to take a chance with not having the passports.

Funny, I think I am having as much fun planning my little diversions for why we need to do things for this trip is almost as much fun as the trip itself!

Oh, they don't have a clue...God this is a blast...