Amazing Alaska Adventure: May 28, 2012!!!!!!

[discorsner]

Since Becky did a good job of introducing herself I am inspired to write a better introduction. Plus it doesn't look like people are flying in here to join this thread so I guess whoever does come we will just know each other very well.

So again, my name is Deb. I am 33 years old (34 at cruise). I am married to Bryce, my high school sweetheart!

We have two boys. Derek will be 11 on the cruise and he is an outgoing crazy kid who loves talking. He is interested in baseball and musicals. I know, a weird combo! He enjoys playing little league and played a lead in last summer's youth musical. He plans on auditioning for the summer show again this year.

Our other son is Nicholas will be 8 on the cruise. He is more shy until he gets to know people. He stands out in the crowd with his bright red hair and sweet smile. He likes playing sports and his favorite is basketball.

Both of the boys are huge video game fans and Pokemon fans! They drive me crazy trying to understand this stuff. However, thankfully for me they both love Disney. They love WDW, DCL, Disney movies, anything Disney. They love to get character auographs of characters they haven't seen before. They also like to collect Disney pins which weigh down my luggage! So far I am pleased that they are not "too old or too cool" to believe in the magic of Disney!

My husband works as a Chemical Engineer and he is one of those crazy math and science people! He likes golf and hanging out with family and friends. He is excited to be going to Alaska with his best bud (or whatever men would call it), Wayne.

I teach at a community college in the business department. I teach part time and also run my own business part time. I think it is against the rules to discuss my business on this forum so I won't actually say the name of it but let's just say that booking Disney trips isn't just my hobby it is my business as well

I love all things Disney as well. My husband proposed years ago at WDW and I also worked at WDW for a semester in college through the Walt Disney World College Program. We couldn't afford a WDW wedding at the time but we had the cake topper and the favors and we tried to include Disney when we could.

This will be our 3rd Disney cruise and our 3rd one on the Wonder! We planned on going on the other ships but we end up back on the Wonder! That is fine with me because I love the Wonder!

Well now that I told my life story I hope that I get to know more people who will be on our cruise!

 

[DanieD0909]

Hey Danielle! That would be cool. We could meet up. You can decide where and when. The only plans we have on the 3rd is going over to the Polynesian Resort to watch the fireworks from the beach. I hear that they do the 4th of July fireworks (bigger, better I guess) on both the 3rd and the 4th so we thought we would try to get a peak.

Hi Deb! Would it be ok to crash your firework party? We can meet you over there to check out the fireworks too!! What time do you think we should meet to stake out a spot? I checked the calendar and fireworks are not listed either night (3rd or 4th) but I'm sure that isn't right! From some searches on the DisBoards, it looks like it will be around 9pm...do you think an hour before is enough to get a spot? 8pm? Please let me know what you think ~ Talk to you soon! Danielle

PS - I love the laundry icon too!!

 

[discorsner]

Hi Deb! Would it be ok to crash your firework party? We can meet you over there to check out the fireworks too!! What time do you think we should meet to stake out a spot? I checked the calendar and fireworks are not listed either night (3rd or 4th) but I'm sure that isn't right! From some searches on the DisBoards, it looks like it will be around 9pm...do you think an hour before is enough to get a spot? 8pm? Please let me know what you think ~ Talk to you soon! Danielle

PS - I love the laundry icon too!!

Hey Danielle. That sounds fine to me. I hadn't even had time to think about the times yet. lol. Been too busy thinking about Alaska which isn't even for over 400 days!

I would say an hour before would be plenty. I am not sure what else we are doing that day but I will keep you informed of when we plan on being where and I can also give you my cell #.

The only thing that I think we need to be aware of is that they can limit parking at the Poly for non-diners or non resort guests. I tried before to get a ressie at Ohana but of course they were booked. I made one for the Califronia Grill that night for the two of us and I was going to have the kids try the kids club at the Poly but the only ressie we got for that was even really too early.

I have been meaning to go back on and see if anything else has opened up. I am sure it will be us and about a million of our closest friends at the beach at the Poly that night. I would have loved to do a fireworks cruise that night but I am sure that it was sold out quite awhile ago. I didn't even bother trying because it is so pricey without having anyone to split it with.

Even if you guys wanted to do it too I am sure it is sold out though.

Have you ever done one of those? Totally worth it!

Anyway, I am content watching from the beach for free! I think we will try to keep trying for the Ohana reservation to see if there are cancelllations and if not we might put the kids in the club and go to the California Grill. We have always wanted to do that but our reservation is like 5 or 530 and I thought it was just so early that when we got back to the Poly and got kids we would have so long to wait for the fireworks with the kids I am not sure what we would do to pass the time.

Anyway if we decide that it is all a bust then we might just go to the quick service place at Poly and get a bite to eat and then wait for the fireworks. If we get turned away at parking then we will go back to park at our resort and take the bus to Mk and then the monorail over to the Poly. I just hope not to do that because even though my kids are being fine with the fact that this is a no parks trip I think it would just be extra teasing to actually ride all the way to MK just to leave!

We are also going to try to fit some character meals in somewhere in the weekend.

 

[DanieD0909]

Hi! Wow...good call on the parking...I forgot about that. If worse comes to worse; I'm perfectly fine with paying $10 to park (or whatever it is now) at the MK Ticket/Transportation Center and then either walk or take the monorail to the Poly

We did the Pirates and Pals Cruise last year - SO FUN!!! But you are right; free with a million of my closest DIS fans is the way to go since I'm sure it will definitely be completely sold out by now!!!

Sounds like a plan to meet then ~ I'll definitely be back in touch after I get back at the end of May to exchange numbers and firm things up!! Can't wait!!!

Danielle

 

[discorsner]

Hi everyone! (All two of you...) Welcome to a new week! Since we start on a Monday I think that means every monday is a new week!

So by my count.... ONLY 58 Weeks to go!!!!!!!

Hooray!!!!


Boy, that sounds like a long time!

 

[discorsner]

Just giving this a bump to see if anyone else is going on this cruise???



Guess my bff Becky, my new disboard friend Danielle, and I, will be having the whole ship to ourselves!!!!

 

[DanieD0909]

Just giving this a bump to see if anyone else is going on this cruise???



Guess my bff Becky, my new disboard friend Danielle, and I, will be having the whole ship to ourselves!!!!

Wouldn't that be awesome!??!!?!

 

[discorsner]

Happy easter everyone!!!!

 

[fl0under]

Wow! I guess we're just overly excited about our trip. I can't believe that people are not coming on here yet. Come on people, we have lots to talk about. I have 2 kids asking at least once a week if anyone signed up with kids yet. I know my BFF and her kids are on this trip. They said we want to meet lots of kids!

 

[DanieD0909]

I agree - I can't believe that nobody else has signed up yet!!! Maybe we have the whole ship to ourselves!!!!

 

[discorsner]

Hi girls... Just us still? WOW!

Anyway, I see our thread was added to the 2012 Wonder list at the top of the meets boards so maybe others will find us???? Who knows!

 

[discorsner]

WOO HOO!!! PAGE 3!

 

[Malmals]

Hi all!

I am so excited to see someone started a group for our cruise.
My name is Mallory. My husband, Kent, and I will be sailing for our 2 years wedding anniversary (no kids yet). We were so excited to see Disney sailing out of Seattle, which is what we had been waiting for a Disney Alaskan adventure : )
We live in Orlando, FL now (and are big Disney people!), but later this year, we will be moving back home to Pittsburgh, Pa.
We go to the parks often and love everything about Disney. We will actually be going this weekend for the Flower and Garden Festival.

I read your posting about Halloween in Disney, and I have to say it is my absolute favorite! You will have a blast!

We just got off of the Disney Magic in April, where we booked this cruise. Before that, we sailed on the Wonder in September for a Bahamas cruise. We are obviously addicted and have said we will not sail another cruise line!

On our first cruise, we missed out on the meet ups, fish extenders, and door decorating because we didn't know anything about it. For this last one, however, we went all out.
We had different door ears for every day as well as some super cute personalized magnets. (Lots of great links on these boards!)
I have to say that meeting and seeing people throughout the cruise (from our group) made things so much more fun! We were actually seated at dinner with another couple from the group.
Out favorite part, though, was the Fish Extender! We also loved coming back to our stateroom to cute little gifts. All in all, there were 25 staterooms that participated in ours. Most people just did one gift per stateroom. There were a few people that did one gift per person. I have to say, we got some A-MAZING things. We have already started planning out gifts for this one!

We did have one person take the lead and make an excel spreadsheet that was posted, and you just added your names, each person's age, and what your stateroom number was. It was very simple and easy. Once on the ship, if there was any room changes, you could go post it on the organizer's door, and he had made all of the changes for everyone on a master list.
They also transitioned this group into a Facebook group for sharing ideas and documents.

Can't wait to hear what everyone decides to do in each port. We are ready to start planning : )


So excited to be cruising with you and have some discussions going on here!

 

[DanieD0909]

Mallory!!! So glad you and Kent are going on this cruise too...I can't wait to meet you!! We are an adult only couple too!!

 

[Malmals]

So I finally took a second to go back and read the posts before mine more carefully.

Caribbean Beach Resort is awesome (but honestly, we have never seen a Disney hotel we didn't like!)
Definitely dress up for the Halloween party. It is so much fun : )

We are planning to explore Seattle the weekend before the cruise as well. I am hoping to budget in dinner or breakfast at the Space Needle restaurant. We've looked into it before, and I know it's a bit pricey. We will definitely at least check it out though!
The market is on my list too.
I'm excited to hear everyone's thoughts on excursions and activities. I wish we could start booking those now lol!!

Deb- so jealous that you got proposed to in Disney. That was my dream lol, and now it is a running joke with my husband! He did re-propose on our one year anniversary in the MK though, which was too sweet!
You have to share the story of where and how he did it!

Danielle- awesome there is another couple!
I see your other cruise is fast approaching! Have an awesome time.
(We are jealous!!)

 

[discorsner]

Hi Mallory! So glad that someone else is joining too! I am usually on here quite a bit more but I teach at a community college and this week is finals so it is a crazy time for me.

I added your names on the list on post #2 but I didn't know your stateroom number.

We are addicted to DCL too. We would go more if we could. We are excited about our upcoming WDW trips but it doesn't compare to DCL in my book and that is saying a lot because I love WDW!

We are excited to do the fish extenders and door decorating as well. Sounds like you are a pro now and can guide us. Feel free to start the spreadsheet if you want to do it.

I don't know about anyone else but I am up for group meets or whatever anyone wants to do. Definitely the fish extenders, maybe a meet up on the first day? What does everyone think??? I guess we have a ton of time to discuss it. Probably too much time.

How many days now???

Anyway, WELCOME!!!!!

 

[discorsner]

Danielle,

You have a trip coming up and we are all insanely jealous!

How is the planning going?

Are you all ready?

Keep us informed so we can live through you.

Hope you have a great time!

 

[discorsner]

Mallory,

Here is the engagement story... I knew I had typed this already on an engagement disney board so I had to find it and copy it. lol......

My hubby proposed on the beach at the Poly while the fireworks went off in the distance. It was the perfect mix of our own little spot combined with the castle and the fireworks theme!

His plan was to do it at the Magic Kingdom but about a half hour or so before the fireworks were going to start he changed his mind after I was commenting how crowded it was in MK. We had gone to the luau the night before and had seen a romantic spot on the beach where we had sat on a swing for a few minutes. He said hey why don't we go back to where we were for the fireworks I was like ok, whatever.

We made it to the Poly quickly on the monorail and over to the swing to sit down. It was relatively secluded on the part we were on because it wasn't near the pool or sunset point, it was actually over to the one side where the luau lets out.

It was great! A moment to remember forever and now that I look back at it I am glad that I didn't share it with 10,000 of our closest friends in the MK. It was our own moment yet it was very Disney-ish!

We had a Mickey and Minnie cake topper, our cake cutting music was When You Wish Upon a Star and our wedding favors were Cinderalla wedding bookmarks and single candy roses from Beauty and the Beast. Our table centerpieces were a single rose from B&B as well. (We went on our first date to see B&B in the movie theatre so we tried to incorporate it)

Wish I could have afforded a WDW wedding but we still did a lot of things Disney and it turned out great.

 

[Malmals]

Thanks for the welcome, and good luck grading all those finals!

I will gladly take the lead for the Fish Extenders. I still have the documents saved from our cruise last month so I will just modify them and post them on here soon so people can add their info!

I know what you mean about the cruise vs. WDW. The cruise is just more relaxing! My husband has never sailed with anyone other than Disney so I feel like any other cruise line is going to leave us missing that Disney magic now!

I think a cruise meet up for the first day is a great idea! We met up about an hour before the muster drill so everyone has time to get on and get settled and you won't miss out on any Disney activities.

I'm excited to have some people to plan with. My husband looks at me like I'm slightly nuts when I start talking about what I want to do for the FE gifts this time around lol : )
But he is beyond thrilled for Alaska. He's an outdoorsy guy so this a dream for him, and he did already buy the fabric to make our Fish Extender for this one! (He made the one for our Caribbean cruise and it turned out to be so cute!)

Oh and our stateroom number is 2517!


Love the engagement story. That is so sweet and what a great Disney connection you guys have with your relationship! <3

 

[discorsner]

Hi everyone!!!! Just thought I would check back in.

Bec- I talk to you everyday but you should post more on here too. lol.

Danielle- you are sailing around on a Disney Cruise right now which means we are all jealous!

Mallory- that is cool that your hubby made your FE. Mine will make ours as well. He is good at all that artsy craft stuff! lol. His mom had her own business doing upholstery when he was growing up so he has learned how to use a sewing machine for sure. I have no clue. lol. He even makes the kids halloween costumes. lol.

What kinds of things did you get in your fish extenders last time you cruised?

I am wondering what to plan on for a fish extender budget! lol.