ALASKA - August 30th, 2011 - Mickeys Mooseketeers & the last Alaskan Cruisade! New Th

[mgibson301]

Anyone heard on their GTY room assignments yet? I keep checking the website but no news. Looking like we may not know until I get my documents?

 

[o&smom]

Since I see some new members posting, thought I would send out my request again. If you are participating in the FE, please send me the hair color of the women/girls your cabin as I am making personalized gifts. TIA!

So far the only plans we have are:

Skagway. . .doing the Chilkoot tour with bus up, dog sled camp/ride, lunch and train down. I heard great things from people on the trip reviews so am trying it out.

I am still contemplating the Lumberjack show, nothing yet for Juneau. . .I have young kids so I am worried about the long day in Skagway and they still use car seats so I am somewhat limited by that, my husband has forbidden any floatplanes/helicopter tours. . .time is running out to make decisions. We may just end up winging it when we get to Juneau and Kethikan.

can't believe we are almost 2 months away. . .

My hair is blonde and my daughter Spencer's hair is blondish (not much yet).

Thanks,
Marni

 

[o&smom]

Marni - welcome to the group!

We'll actually be in your neck of the woods for a few days - we're flying in early to visit with friends in Portland, then taking the Amtrak Cascades from PDX to Vancouver the night before we cruise. Looking forward to the train trip - just not thrilled that it doesn't arrive til 10:30 pm!

Have you booked your excursions yet?

Hey Tracey!

Where in the Portland area do your friends live? We live in a suburb called Happy Valley about 15 min from DT. Smart move on doing the train the day before, you should really enjoy it. We thought about it, but with a 1 yr old on a train for that long - no one would have enjoyed it. Our airfare just from Portland to Vancouver was more than our airfare from Portland to Orlando next Spring for our Fantasy cruise. Crazy!
We are doing Port Adventures through Disney at all ports. We just figured that this will probably be our only time visiting Alaska and that we should do all things that you think of when you think of Alaska. On our Med cruise last fall we did 4 Port Adventures and three areas on our own. Since it was our first cruise, I wasn't quite sure how easy it would be to do something once you got there or through another company. We were very happy with all that we did, but I wouldn't be afraid to try outside excursions. I looked into them for the Alaska cruise, but they didn't seem to be much cheaper and with Disney you are not going to miss the boat.
I think we will book at least one with an outside company on our Caribbean cruise next year.

Our excursions:
Skagway - White Pass Railroad and Trail Camp Port Adventure (We chose this one because a family from Australia that we met on our Med cruise had been to Alaska in 2009 and said that the White Pass Railroad was their very favorite thing about their trip!)

Juneau - Dog Sled Adventure by Helicopter Port Adventure

Ketchican - Neets Bay Bear Watch by Floatplane Port Adventure

Doing all of these is quite extensive and almost cost as much as the cruise just for the three of us! Spencer will be getting some play time in the nursery while we do the excursions. Letting her play in the nursery and get a decent nap really worked out well on our last cruise. She even made friends with Princess Tianna.

Hope you have a great time here in Portland visiting your friends and a beautiful sunny day for your train ride!

Marni

 

[PBader]

Anyone heard on their GTY room assignments yet? I keep checking the website but no news. Looking like we may not know until I get my documents?

There was 1 other family on here that was GTY and they were assigned about a week and a half ago. Maybe you are in for some

 

[PBader]

That's why we're on the morning Cascades.

That didn't coincide with our flight arrival and didn't want to add another day. But enjoy, it will be a nice ride

 

[poohj80]

That didn't coincide with our flight arrival and didn't want to add another day. But enjoy, it will be a nice ride

Since our cruise doesn't start until Tuesday, we're spending a couple days in Seattle first since some in our party have never been there.

 

[PBader]

. I looked into them for the Alaska cruise, but they didn't seem to be much cheaper and with Disney you are not going to miss the boat.
I think we will book at least one with an outside company on our Caribbean cruise next year.

Our excursions:
Skagway - White Pass Railroad and Trail Camp Port Adventure (We chose this one because a family from Australia that we met on our Med cruise had been to Alaska in 2009 and said that the White Pass Railroad was their very favorite thing about their trip!)

Juneau - Dog Sled Adventure by Helicopter Port Adventure

Ketchican - Neets Bay Bear Watch by Floatplane Port Adventure

Doing all of these is quite extensive and almost cost as much as the cruise just for the three of us! Spencer will be getting some play time in the nursery while we do the excursions. Letting her play in the nursery and get a decent nap really worked out well on our last cruise. She even made friends with Princess Tianna.

Marni

Marni, I really wanted to do the dog sledding by helicopter & 1 of the bear things but they were budget busters for me. I did book the Taku Lodge through Shoretrips for a good savings off the DCL rate. Overall I am really happy with our excursion picks. We will have lots to share about our adventures during our daily meet up in the Promenade Lounge. Hard to believe that 2 months from today we will be in Seattle beginning our Alaska trip

 

[PBader]

We are in Seattle for disembarktion day and will have a couple of hours before our flight the next day. I keep checking with Hotwire--I want to stay at the Cedar Brook Lodge but latest it is on there is July 19th ($93 sure beats $189)---so I still have about 5 weeks before I think it will show up

 

[poohj80]

If anyone is interested, finally finished our Dream Trip Report...

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=41649022&postcount=18

 

[o&smom]

Marni, I really wanted to do the dog sledding by helicopter & 1 of the bear things but they were budget busters for me. I did book the Taku Lodge through Shoretrips for a good savings off the DCL rate. Overall I am really happy with our excursion picks. We will have lots to share about our adventures during our daily meet up in the Promenade Lounge. Hard to believe that 2 months from today we will be in Seattle beginning our Alaska trip

Paula,
Luckily, we are doing the cheapest of the glacier dog sledding, but it was a big commitment! Since we think this will be our one and only cruise to Alaska we couldn't think of anything more "Alaska" than that. We think our son will never forget this adventure and I have wanted to dogsled since I learned about the Iditarod in 5th grade. We are so excited! Just so you know, I take a lot of pictures and would love to show anyone who wants to take a peek later.

Somehow I missed that we are meeting daily in the Promenade. Is that going to be at 3:15 each day or has that been decided yet? Sounds like fun to share our daily adventures with each other!

 

[PBader]

Hey Marni,
No it is going to be at 4:30 and very casual. No worries if you can't come everyday or any of the days----it is so hard to fit everything in on vacations. There are never enough hours in the day

The 1st day we are meeting at 3:15. I will have lanyard signs for everyone with our logo and your names on them. (They are most of the way finished). I am also going to have some copies of the FE listing incase some of our party get room changes at the port so we can get the changes noted--not fun to have your FE gifts delivered to the worng room

We are also going to meet for a quick breakfast at the food court under Canada Place at the Tim Hortons but the time has escaped me, but quite a few didn't think they would make that. Hopefully someone will remind me of the time and I'll add it to the roster page.

You can always find that easily as I added the link to my signature.

I love looking at pictures I have been stocking up on extra batteries for the camera and some additional memory cards

 

[cinderellanprince]

tracy--thanks for the link to your photos. i am definitely going to take the family to the lumberjack show, but want to do the one earlier than the disney exclusive. i need to check if we can book that session through disney to get the transportation--heard it was walkable but am worried about potential rain and pushing the stroller that far.

paula--for the tim horton meet, i think we were shooting for 8:30 for those of us that wanted to be first on the boat. i was planning on attending until about 9:30/10, going back up to check out and then trying to get to port right at 11 (or earlier!! i am just too excited and really want the character tea tickets, even though i only have boys . . .my little one said he would go with me so i didn't have to go alone what compassion for mommy)

we were on GTY status and got our assignment awhile ago. . .can't recall exactly but i'm sure it was over a month ago.

 

[PBader]

Thanks Cynthia I knew someone would remember

I would still book the Lumberjack show through their site, that way you can get the child's rate for your son. I think that is really where a lot of the savings comes through booking on your own compared to the ship--it's those kids over 10. I know DCL has the same ages as the parks for consistency but ............................

 

[Politzania]

Hey Tracey!

Where in the Portland area do your friends live? We live in a suburb called Happy Valley about 15 min from DT. Smart move on doing the train the day before, you should really enjoy it. We thought about it, but with a 1 yr old on a train for that long - no one would have enjoyed it. Our airfare just from Portland to Vancouver was more than our airfare from Portland to Orlando next Spring for our Fantasy cruise. Crazy!
...
Hope you have a great time here in Portland visiting your friends and a beautiful sunny day for your train ride!
Marni

They're in Beaverton, and IIRC, not too far from downtown/the airport.
I'm looking forward to the train - about 18 yrs ago, I took Amtrak from Indiana to Texas - that was a LONG trip in coach, but the 8 hrs from PDX to VAN shouldn't be too bad - and the scenery should be grand!

 

[cinderellanprince]

I know some of you were looking for the ZAZZLE discount for Tshirts--right now the coupon code for 17.76% off is LANDOFTEE through 7/4

 

[tracyvansmith]

tracy--thanks for the link to your photos. i am definitely going to take the family to the lumberjack show, but want to do the one earlier than the disney exclusive. i need to check if we can book that session through disney to get the transportation--heard it was walkable but am worried about potential rain and pushing the stroller that far.

paula--for the tim horton meet, i think we were shooting for 8:30 for those of us that wanted to be first on the boat. i was planning on attending until about 9:30/10, going back up to check out and then trying to get to port right at 11 (or earlier!! i am just too excited and really want the character tea tickets, even though i only have boys . . .my little one said he would go with me so i didn't have to go alone what compassion for mommy)

we were on GTY status and got our assignment awhile ago. . .can't recall exactly but i'm sure it was over a month ago.

you wont need transportation for the lumberjack show. It is only a half or a block away from the docks. It is right behind a store that is right at the docks. You should be able to see their climbing poles from the ship the day we pull in to dock.

found a great site for a walking map so you can see how close the show is to the docks. It took a while for it to come up for me.
http://www.experienceketchikan.com/support-files/ketchikan_maps_downtown.pdf
http://www.experienceketchikan.com/support-files/ketchikan_maps_west.pdf

print both out and tape together.

 

[mgibson301]

There was 1 other family on here that was GTY and they were assigned about a week and a half ago. Maybe you are in for some

Oooh, maybe!! Keeping my fingers crossed...still nothing online yet. Will let you know when I hear something so you can update the FE list.

 

[tracyvansmith]

This is for tomorrow since we will be gone camping from tonight until July 10

 

[sunshine1259]

This is for tomorrow since we will be gone camping from tonight until July 10

Happy Canada Day, to you, Tracy.

 

[PBader]

Happy Canada Day to you Tracy!! Enjoy your camping trip