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

[yazee1]

We'll want to go back to Stingray City. I'll book with Captain Marvin's again. I don't remember if we did the 3 hour or the 5 hour. I'm hoping to see the kids enjoy it more this time. Last time was their first experience in the open ocean and the boys' first try with snorkel gear.

Dh will probably want to do the dune buggy excursion again in Cozumel but I might suggest we split up this time. Oldest ds didn't like it when dh drove very fast through the "jungle" and I am satisfied with having done it once.

Key West....last time we checked the kids into the clubs and toured around just the two of us. I'm not sure what we'll do this time. I'd like to see more of the "sites".

I'm going to skip the spa this time. I thought the massage was mediocre at best. Maybe it was because the young masseuse had bony hands, don't know. If I knew I was getting someone experienced and who had strong hands, I'd consider it.

Braids - that's a mom and daughter must do.

Monday, I'm going to AAA to pay the balance of our trip and try our luck at getting a Palo reservation for dinner and brunch.

 

[sftnslky]

The new Residence Inn is compared to where Ron Johns is ? We are going to switch our reservations to Ron Johns , but other family members are going to keep theirs at Residence Inn. ... We all wanted to met for dinner the evening prior to sailing out So any information would be helpful

Have an awesome weekend.... Many & lots of & love

 

[georgeat]

Was able to get a Palo reservation for 9/28/06 but forgot to get one including the grandaughter and her friend. (forgot to put the drop down box to 3-4 adults) . Oh well will keep a watch to see if I can get it updated later. Only 90 days to go

 

[yazee1]

The new Residence Inn is compared to where Ron Johns is

Good question. I'd call them and ask. Then you 'll know the distance and whether they are on the same side of the street, or even if there is a shuttle between them (not likely but who knows) .

 

[Whisker]

Wowee, thanks for the warm welcome everyone. Sure sounds like a lot of fun folks. Our first cruise ever was on DCL last summer when the Magic was on the west coast. We loved it and are really looking forward to this next trip. We will be staying at the Hyatt in the Orlando airport the night before and taking the disney transfer bus to port.

Sorry to hear about your Mother in law passing, Sftnslky. What a wonderful way to bring your family together to celebrate her life though. I am sure she will be with you all watching over you and enjoying all your smiles in her honor.

It does sound like there are a lot of Mother in laws going on this trip. That is really cool. And lots of kids around my daughter's age, very nice.

Georgeat... I noticed your avatar. My hubby is a chinook instructor pilot in the Army.

 

[vpalmer]

Wowee, thanks for the warm welcome everyone. Sure sounds like a lot of fun folks. Our first cruise ever was on DCL last summer when the Magic was on the west coast. We loved it and are really looking forward to this next trip. We will be staying at the Hyatt in the Orlando airport the night before and taking the disney transfer bus to port.

Sorry to hear about your Mother in law passing, Sftnslky. What a wonderful way to bring your family together to celebrate her life though. I am sure she will be with you all watching over you and enjoying all your smiles in her honor.

It does sound like there are a lot of Mother in laws going on this trip. That is really cool. And lots of kids around my daughter's age, very nice.

Georgeat... I noticed your avatar. My hubby is a chinook instructor pilot in the Army.

And I noticed that three of the families with three year olds all opted for staying at the Hyatt Friday night and taking the DCL transfers Saturday morning. I guess we all know the temperament of a three year old well enough to break up the travel day a bit!

 

[Whisker]

And I noticed that three of the families with three year olds all opted for staying at the Hyatt Friday night and taking the DCL transfers Saturday morning. I guess we all know the temperament of a three year old well enough to break up the travel day a bit!

LOL

so true

 

[sftnslky]

noticed that three of the families with three year olds all opted for staying at the Hyatt Friday night

I must be a two year old then... I am DREADING the trip down to Flordia soooo bad that we are getting in a full day AND a half before...We are arriving on Thursday...So I iwll have a few days to rest up I don't travel well, and I'm not ashamed to admit it

 

[vpalmer]

I must be a two year old then... I am DREADING the trip down to Flordia soooo bad that we are getting in a full day AND a half before...We are arriving on Thursday...So I iwll have a few days to rest up I don't travel well, and I'm not ashamed to admit it

It's good that you know that about yourself enough to really space out the travel from your cruise. There would be nothing worse than spending the first couple days of your cruise recovering from traveling.

 

[vpalmer]

So have all of our Castaway Club members made their ressies yet? What did you all get? Eva and I made a 90 day chain and are eagerly counting down the days. I am ready to call in at the 75 day mark.

 

[yazee1]

Well, I booked our brunch and dinner at Palo but I'm probably going to change it later because the date I wanted for brunch wasn't available. The frustrating part is the brunch date I wanted was available the first time I went online to book it, but I couldn't get the submit button to work. The next day I realized it was probably my browser so I switched to Internet Explorer. That worked, but the date we wanted was no longer availabe. The kids are registered and that's about all I intend to book through DCL. Hair braiding and all that I have to do on the ship. Our excursions we book on our own.

Our trip chain is still kind of long. More than a couple people have asked if I was having a party. Yeah, I always decorate with colorful paper chain where each link has a date on it. LOL

We're driving from NJ, but I've been toying with the idea of taking the Autotrain.It's only a couple hundred more than it would cost to drive the whole way and we enjoy the experience of riding the Autotrain.

 

[vpalmer]

[ Ok I love free dining as well, but what the heck does MYW mean? And how do they? have free dining?

Hope you all have a great Thursday evening.... Try to stay cool.... we are in our 4th straight day of over 100 degrees with 7 more to come. many & lots of & Love

MYW stands for Magic Your Way. It is the name of the Disney World packages. Free dining is a promotion that Disney runs during hurricane season. You pay rack rate for your room and buy theme park tickets and Disney waives the cost of the dining package. It is a pretty good deal although not as fabulous as it sounds because you are paying rack rate for your hotel room.

 

[sftnslky]

It is a pretty good deal although not as fabulous as it sounds because you are paying rack rate for your hotel room.

sorry but stupid question once again... but what the heck does 'rack rate' mean? I will eventually learn all of the disney lingo Have an awesome Thursday.

 

[sftnslky]

It's good that you know that about yourself enough to really space out the travel from your cruise. There would be nothing worse than spending the first couple days of your cruise recovering from traveling.

Actually I didn't used to be this way... but every since i've had Fibromyalgia sitting for to long really HURTS sooo bad..and the air time is just shy of 8 hours So between me and two little girls my hubby is going to be one happy traveler

Was at Walmart the other day and stocked up on 24hr non-drowsy dramine.... I get REALLY REALLY BAD motion sickness . How many of you get seasick as well? Even on land I have CONSTANT vertigo... have had it since I was a kid My girls got ill on our last cruise as well, but after a few days of adjusting they were fine,,,,,,but not me

Have a great Thursday everyone. bye

 

[sftnslky]

Our babysitter called last night, and informed us that she has accepted a full time summer babysitting job.. sitting for a little baby...and is getting paid $5.00 per hour for the one and only child.

I may be old fashioned but we pay $2.50 and hour for two kids and $4.00 an hour for all four... When I called a few teens from our church they all charge MUCH more then that ...So my question is this...those of you with little ones what you all are paying your sitter per hour? Now keep in mind she is asked to do NOTHING more then watch the kids , play on the computer , or ps2 and eat all she wants...NO house cleaning, dishes or anything.

Have a great Thursday all.... I'm off to find a sitter

 

[strawberryblonde]

I wish we had a sitter. All of the reliable mature teens I know are from our homeschool group. Their lives are too full and busy so I haven't asked them about babysitting. Many of them have their own baby siblings to help out with also.

For now, I swap with other parents. These are moms I trust plus the kids get to play with their friends as a bonus. Drawback to this plan is the driving involved. We are accross the island from the 3 families this works out with.

If I were paying a teen, I would figure on about $5-6 an hour, not $10. If I had a little baby, I would think the $5 (for one)needed because they need constant attention. Our gym had parents night out just a few weeks ago. It was $15 per child for up to 5 hours. Works out to $3 an hour per child, so the $6 I was thinking of paying a teen. The gym entertained them the entire time and I wasn't feeding a growing teen , I probably came out ahead.

 

[yazee1]

Maybe, it's regional, but no one around here would think twice about paying a teenager 5.00 an hour to babysit a baby/toddler. As you know, they are high maintenance. That being said, $5.00 an hour to babysit more than one school age child is also normal around here. The feeling I get is that it doesn't matter whether it's daytime or night, it's still her time she's being paid for. The only cleaning our sitter is expected to do is to make sure the mess she and the kids made on her "watch" is cleaned up. I try to make sure I'm fair about not leaving dishes in the sink and making sure she doesn't arrive to a mess in general.

I remember when I was a teenager, we were happy with a dollar an hour. LOL.

 

[yazee1]

Becca, that's a drag about the motion sickness. None of us have it. Some of friends are amazed to see my kids reading in the car since it would make them and their kids sick as heck.

 

[vpalmer]

sorry but stupid question once again... but what the heck does 'rack rate' mean? I will eventually learn all of the disney lingo Have an awesome Thursday.

No problem! Rack rate is basically full price. Usually you can go through AAA and get the package and get a discount on the room portion of the package. This is what we did last December. However, with "free dining" that is the only discount you receive.

 

[Euphscott]

We will be paying off our cruise today, so hopefully the Palo reservations will happen soon. I would not expect our TA to get the money into Disney immediately, so we may have a booking lag.

I suffer from a little motion sickness on ships. But after the first full day I am acclimated. I have used the bonine pills with success. The only down side was that they made me real sleepy. I'd rather be queasy than overly sleepy. I can't enjoy shows or meals when I have my face in my hands or my dessert!

Happy Friday and weekend everyone!