9/23/06 Let's go!!!! Who's with us???

[Euphscott]

Uh oh, no post on Monday morning - muscles must be sore!!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

I survived, I am here, sore muscles and all!!!!
Not as bad as the week before.
I was just slow at getting on line today. I had to do other fun things such as buy curtain rods, curtains, get home owners insurance quotes, movers estimates etc....
This week starts the real fun of packing all the little stuff and moving it over and unpacking it. At least since my muscles are already sore the packing shouldnt made them any worse.
We need a cruise!!!! SOON!!!!
At least at our age we are smart enough to hire movers for the heavy furniture.
Hope everyone had a great weekend while we were slaving away with our painting!
Well since I'm not getting any sympathy from anyone about my aches and pains I guess I will sit down with a hot cup of tea and my old friend Mr. Ben Gay.
Kathy

 

[sftnslky]

Good morning everyone. Hope all your weeknds were good ones. We have been soooo busy. Sadly Dh's parents passed away within five weeks of each other and we have been trying to take care of ALL the Estate stuff.. So each weekend we are VERY busy... All day Saturday down at his parents place which is 1 1/2 hours away and 4 hours every Sunday is church. I should clarify that Church its self istn' 4 hours...but because our church is somewhat big [just shy of 4500 members] we have 6 diffrent services on Sunday and I do the infant nursery for 2 hours. I also am the assistant director of the childrens musicals... Twice a year they [the children] put on a HUGE musical... its about 1 hour long with over 100 kids in it.

I did end up ordering the magnatic paper via online... it wasn't bad 89 cents a sheet I got 10 sheets...just in case I mess up lol. We don' thave a right type of printer..we have a laser printer..so might have to go to kinkos or something??? And i'm trying to bid on a copy of Disney magic.. wish me luck .

Was gonna ask does anyone in this group have the Disney credit card? I know you can earn points for Disney stuff.. but how fast do they add up? We have three other type of point cards...One for Costco through American Express...which every three months sends you a check ammount to spend for free at Costco.. We also have a Carnival Cruise Line credit card where you earn a free cruise...and we also have Wells Fargo Visa that you earn free stuff...ie sports equipement, resturant gift certificates etc... So is it worth it?

Also have any of you booked a Disney cruise while you were on the cruise? Iv'e heard you can get good deals is this true?

Well Ive got some phone calls to make and need to balance my checkbook and start dinner..and I really should do some laundry lol....joy oh joy Have a great afternoon all....
xoxoxoxo to everyone

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Howdy,
Yes we have the disney credit card. We book our cruises with it because they dont chage interest for 6 months on cruises or something like that. Plus it's more points that way. I have used ours for several big items we have bought in the last year. Example, I saved up to buy a new living room set but instead of paying cash, we charged it for the points then paid it off when the first bill came. Thus a lot of points and no interest paid out. We have done stuff like that all year long and I have used a few hundred points at WDW already and I still have a lot more that I could transfer to my points card when ever I want. Just remember that once your transfer the points to your card there is an expiration date. If you dont use them by that date you will loose them! Be sure and ask them when the expiration date will be the first time you transfer points to make sure you will have enough time to use them up before they expire. You can tranfser as little as $20 and it is done instantly. That way there is no reason to put a lot on it until you are ready to use it. For us it has paid off. I have extra spending money for all kinds of neat disney stuff. I have never used it on the cruise before, although you can. I live by WDW so i use it there all the time, and for disney direct on line shopping. You do receive mailings a few times a year for extra special discounts on things if you use the card too.
Hope that answers your question,
mom x4,grandma x4
Kathy

 

[sftnslky]

Howdy,
Yes we have the disney credit card. We book our cruises with it because they dont chage interest for 6 months on cruises or something like that. /QUOTE]

Thats good to know.... I was wondering if you or anyone else in our group has booked a Disney cruise while you were on one at the same time? Iv'e heard you get a good deal? But was wondering... I saved almost $1.000 booking online with a travel place instead of booking through Disney cruise online. So is it really worth it?

I hope everyone has an awesome Tuesday... xoxoxoxo to all

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Yes, we have rebooked while on board. With 7 day cruises we got $200 room credit which we loved. it is less for the shorter cruises. I think the good prices vary. sometimes it's better to book on board because they often give 10% discount plus the room credit, but sometimes the sales through TA's are a better deal than what you can do on board. You just have to do some research before you book on board so you will know if it is a good deal or not. There has been a couple of times that it was a lot more to re book while on board even with the room credit so we waited and booked after we got back home and saved. My DH checks the prices the evening before we cruise so he has the latest prices when we go.
That helps us to decide which is the best deal for us.
mom x4,grandma x4
Kathy

 

[sftnslky]

Yes, we have rebooked while on board. With 7 day cruises we got $200 room credit which we loved.

Kathy I was just reading other post and came across this one and INSTANTLY thought of you..

>>>>>>We just got a FL resident discount Originally the cost was about $8600 for 7 of us.....3 in Cat 6 and 4 in Cat 11. We would receive a 5% cash back from DU (Leigh is the agent and she is awesome!) also w/ a $175 shipboard credit. We were notified yesterday about the FL res. rate and now we are going for $4900!! and we'll still get the above incentives. If you divide the costs PP, it comes to only $100 per night. We are just thrilled and feel so fortunate <<<<<<<

So you might want to check into the new discount. Hope this helps & let me know if it works out for you.

Many and to all...

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

There are some great deals out there if a guy just keeps looking. It does feel great when you finally get one or if you get a free upgrade.
My DH always watches the prices. It feels really good when you book over a year out and then watch the prices go up and up as the cruise gets closer and you can see how much less you paid for your room over what the late bookers did.

Well it's back to packing for me,
Kathy

 

[Euphscott]

The first price bump since we booked took place yesterday. I keep watching just in case the price gets to a point where we can jump a category or two. It was only $50 a person, but that is $150 savings! It all adds up when pictures, souvenirs and excursions factor into the equation.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Howdy everbody,
We havnt heard from Heidi and Angela, Cheri and Peaches for quite awhile. Are you guys all ok?? We miss hearing from you once in awhile. Drop us a line when you get the chance.
We have a beautiful day today, suppose to hit 80, but I'm not out enjoying it! Instead i am waist high in boxes and newspapers and packing stuff everywhere! I am making progress, slowly. I am running out of room to stack boxes, so it is a good thing my DH is taking a load out of here tomarrow.
We are so ready to be on a cruise!!
I hope everyone has been having a good week. Another week is just about over, which means we will be another week closer to our cruise.

Kathy

 

[strawberryblonde]

Hi Kathy and all. We have been quite busy lately. Birthday sleep-over party for my son. Lots of rain here in Hawaii. Many houses flooded. I'm so glad that are house remains dry. We had a couple days of hot sun but it rained all day today.

Take care all.

 

[APB513]

Good morning everyone -

I hope everyone has been doing well. I have not posted lately because I am consumed by this trip (and loving it). I spend all of me free time reading various message boards, tour books and websites trying to get as much information as possible.

I think I finally have all of the major details worked out:

9/22/06
Arrive in FL @ 11:00 pm
Magical Express to Pop Century

9/23/06 - my oldest son's B-day!
Early breakfast at Pop
check out of hotel
Morning at MGM before we leave for Port
Town car to port - should arrive by 3pm (is that too late?)
Board the Disney Magic for the most amazing week of our lives!!!

9/30/06 - my youngest son's b-day
Arrive back at Port Canaveral
Town car to Animal Kingdom Lodge
Arrive at MK (Mid morning) and try to stay til closing @ 11 pm (are we crazy?)

10/1/06
Check out of hotel
Animal Kingdom (1st time!) til 3pm
Magical Express to airport
Return flight leaves at 6:23 pm
Arrive back in the real world - 11:00 pm

For the experienced Disneyites, does this sound doable or am I insane?

Euphscott -

I know you suggested that I keep my ressie at the Dolphin but since we are doing one night before the cruise and one night after I wanted to stay in a Disney property to get the whole "magical" experience.

Since we get in so late the first night, I picked a value resort. I picked Pop because it is close to MGM. I decided to splurge and stay at AKL for our post cruise stay (I've always wanted to stay here). I reserved a room with a Savannah view. If anyone has stayed at AKL, do you have a view you can recommend?

I figured this way, we get to "sample" two types of Disney resorts and see which ones we like.

I am so excited about this trip I can't think of anything else!! Once I get all of the details fine tuned, I am going to start making our door signs and t-shirts!! Man I can't wait!!!

I hope everyone has a "Magical' weekend!!!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Hi Heidi,
So glad your not among the flooded homes. With all that rain and still warm temps you must be pretty humid and muggy. Our summers are like that here and I hate it! But i love the winters.

Angela,
Boy you have certainly been busy planning. It looks good to me, but one thing you might check out:
It used to be you had to be on board one hour before the safety drill. I think it is at 4:00 p.m.. If you plan on arrivng at 3 it might be cutting it awfully close to the deadline. You may want to call and ask about it to be sure.
I know that DCL buses do arrive after 3:00, but they do make allowances for those. But on our papers on previous cruises it did state you must be on board one hour prior to the drill, not just in the terminal. I dont know what they would do, if anything for someone showing up after that time.
You might want to check it out.
We are always there when they open at 10:00 and chat with other excited people while waiting for the boarding process to begin.
I have not stayed at AK, but I have done a tour of it before it opened and the rooms with the view of the savanah were really neat and the animals were awesome. There is also a viewing area , kind of an open deck at the end of a hallway on either the 2nd or 3rd floor to use and there is a small area you can walk around at the back by the savanah to see the animals in case you dont have a room with a view. It is so cool to look over your balcony and see giraffe's and zebra's wondering around and munching on the vegetation. You'll love it!! The gift shop has some traditional disney stuff, but it also has some very unusual items from africa, so be sure to check it out too!!! Just save a few dollars from the islands. You may not be there long enough but they have an awesome pool there too.
Once we finish moving I will do my door signs too. I have a lot of ideas rolling around in my head, but nothing definate yet.

Have a great weekend everyone, I will of course be gone again moving stuff and painting, but I will check in on sunday night or monday morning to see if anything is happening.
Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Hey guys,
If any of you are thinking of having a massage in the cabanas at castaway Cay, go to the forums and check out the thread titiled:
OMG; I totally flashed some poor soul on Castaway Cay!!!

You might think twice about doing it or at least be careful about it.


You should check this out and some of the experiences of the people who responded to it. Particularly the lady in a loose skirt with drinks in hand by the pool in the wind!!!
Never do this!!!

it's hilarious,
kathy

 

[Euphscott]

Angela,

You'll certainly save a load of money going to Pop Century over the Dolphin.

We've stayed at both sides of Port Orleans and the Grand Floridian. Our experience at the Swan was not at all off of the Disny experience. You simply don't have Mickey art on your walls or Disney propaganda on the TV channel as you switch on the set. In all reality, the experience really rivaled that of the Grand Floridian. That is to say it's an understated Disney experience. But it's a wonderful hotel experience (like the Grand). And again - those beds are FAR superior to the Disney hotel beds.

I am not trying to convince you - you seem to have a terrific schedule (if busy!) but I don't want anyone reading to make the same mistake I made in regards to the Swan and Dolphin. For years we looked the other way thinking that it was not Disney and not a good product. We were SO wrong. My wife and I discussed that we could stay there the rest of our WDW trips and be more than pleased. With boat access to MGM and Epcot it sure is nicer than having to rely on buses for all our park treks! It's almost like staying at the Grand (Poly, or Contemporary) and having monorail access to two parks.

Enjoy your schedule - it's a load of fun and we are only 6 months away!

 

[yazee1]

You have another member for your thread. My name is Monica. Dh and I and our 3 children will be joining you. We've been booked for the October 21st cruise since last April, but one of dh's former housemates from college is getting married on the 21st and we don't want to miss the wedding. At 43, he's the last of the six friends to get married. It's going to be as much a reunion as it is a wedding reception for many of us.

Rebooking for a date a month earlier is kind of nice. Now our wait is four weeks shorter. Another advantage is the cost of the cruise is 600.00 less even though we booked 11 months later. I was concerned that we wouldn't be able to get a category 6 room with a category 11 room across the hall like we had originally booked, but we did. The DCL and AAA on board credits were the same. Combined it's 350.00 on the category 6 and 275.00 for the category 11.


Until next time...

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Welcome aboard Monica and family!!!!
Is so very nice to add another family.
I was just checking my mail at 5 a.m. before heading out for a weekend of work and saw your post. That was a nice surprise to start my day!!!
I'm looking forward to getting to know you over the next few months. We have some great people on this thread, and now we have one more.

mom x4,grandma x4
Kathy

 

[APB513]

I'm glad you found us!!! Will this be your first Disney Cruise? What are the ages and sexes of your children? Both of my children will be celebrating their birthdays while we are on this cruise. My oldest son will be turning 18 and my younger son will be turning 13.

Kathy -

Thank you for pointing out the arrival time. I thought it was an hour before the ship left. To be on the safe side, we will only spend 3 hours at the park and then be on our way to the port by 11:30am. That way we should be at the port no later than 2pm.

Euphscott -

I had a hard time deciding to cancel my Dolphin ressies. I have always wanted to stay there. Unfortunately, I am not renting a car this trip so I will be relying on ME to get us from the airport. Dolphin does participate in ME so that was the deciding factor.

Hopefully on our next trip we'll get to stay at the Dolphin!

 

[APB513]

The Travel Channel will be re-airing their Disney Cruiseline episode on the following dates:

MAR 14 2006
@ 10:00 PM

MAR 15 2006
@ 01:00 AM

MAR 16 2006
@ 07:00 PM

MAR 17 2006
@ 02:00 AM

MAR 18 2006
@ 03:00 PM

 

[yazee1]

Greetings!

Thanks for the welcome ladies. Yes, we've been on a Disney cruise before. It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since we rebooked and to think we still have six and a half months to go. For our first Disney cruise, we didn't know about the wisdom of booking far in advance. The idea of going on a cruise didn't occur to us until three months before we booked it. That seemed like FOREVER to wait. The kids and I made a 100 day countdown chain that stretched longer than the average sized anaconda and they took turns cutting the links. As you can imagine, we paid too much. Two category 10's for the cheapest week of April was close to $6900.00. (This time we're paying a little under $5000 with a category 6 and 11). At least we knew to buy our insurance on our own. LOL. God was merciful, though. At check-in when I told the representative our room numbers, he said, "Nope," gave me a goofy smile and said, "You must know the right people. You're in 6028 and 6030." I never won the lottery but I think I knew what it felt like at that moment. We went from having adjoining rooms with portholes to connecting rooms with verandas! To say that set the mood is an understatement. Of course, now, we're spoiled. Some people say the veranda is a waste of money for them, and I believe them. For us, that is not the case. To book two sixes is extravagent for us. That is why we booked a category 6 for dh, dd and myself with the category 11 across the hall for the boys.

Our kids consist of an 11 year old son, an 8 year old son, and 5 year old daughter. We live in New Jersey but we're not from here. Talk to you all later!