any1 going in december 17 2005 on the west

[spotncleo]

krhardy,

I am a little worried about how tired our kids are going to be. We only flying in on Friday and and supposed to land at 4:00. It will be a rush to get the rental car, drive to the POP, and basically throw our bags in to the room. When we did the halloween party 2 years ago, we stayed until closing and the kids did fine so I can only hope we will have a repeat.

I know what you mean about wanting to be at the port right away and I totally agree with you! I originally planned on doing a character breakfast that morning but we have scrapped that idea. It will be a quick bite in the food court and then off.

We can't decide when to tell the kids, do you know when you are going to share the news? Anyway, nice talking with you!

Laura

 

[spotncleo]

Sandra, where in Canada are you from?

We did Seaworld 2 years ago and our kids loved it. My daughter who was 5 at the time could of watched the dolphins for hours. It sounds like you're going to have a wonderful holiday!

Laura

 

[Disney Rocks]

Hi Laura:

We are from Northern Manitoba.

If your six year old daughter is interested in writing to my six year old that would be great. Catryna is writing to a couple other little girls on the cruise as well. She would love to meet some girls before hand as this is all new to her so she doesn't know what to expect.

I am thinking my girls will be very impressed with the dolphins as well. We have bought the swim with the dolphin tickets for Discovery Cove but the girls don't know that yet. Our youngest is only four though so she can't swim with them there.

We are also hoping to swim with the dolphins at the park in Cozumel but are thinking we will buy our tickets once we get there rather than ahead of time just in case the ship doesn't get to Cozumel for whatever reason. The tickets are rather pricey to buy and then not even be able to go. I hope we are actually able to get them when we get there though.

 

[revins]

Revins,
Welcome aboard to you and your family.
We are getting a lot of people on this thread now. It's great.
Will the repositioning cruise be your first disney cruise or are you a seasoned cruiser? The people on this thread are great for answering any questions you may have, if you have any questions. Be sure and ask. I'm sure as the cruise gets closer there will be a lot more chatting back and forth with everyone.
Have a great day,
Kathy
mom x4,grandma x4

Hi Mom x4, Grandma x4

The Panama cruise will be our third Disney Cruise. So I don't know if you can call us seasoned cruisers. But we are certainly Disney fans and love the Disney Cruises enough to go in August and again in December.

revins

 

[krhardy]

spotncleo:

we aren't exactly sure when we are going to tell the kids. We are homeschoolers, as is another family that we are traveling with. We are thinking of doing a "not going back to school party" with some sort of scavenger hunt involving our boat...the kids will have to read a map, decode clues, etc. In the end, the "prize" will be finding out about the cruise. We are also traveling with a couple other families that aren't HS'ers. We're hoping to figure a way for them to participate as well, although haven't discussed it with them, so Terri, if you read this before I talk to you, you know it's coming (BTW, hope y'all had a great time with the mouse)
SO, anyway, that will be sometime in August. Will keep you posted on how it goes!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Disneyrocks,
I live right in the middle of the attractions area in central florida. A couple of other places you might consider going to see while your here are Cypress Gardens and Gatorlannd.
Cypress gardens just reopened a few months ago, it's been totally remodeled. It has one section with 36 rides. some are moderate sized roller coaters, swings, bumper cars, a train, several little kids rides, merry go round, and a couple of water slide rides. These are suited for families that are not into big thrill rides. These are fun, but not as thrilling as Islands of adventure. They have a water park which is opening this summer and is included in the admission price. It has a hugh play area for kids and a wave pool. They just opened a animal section 3 weeks ago, i havn't seen it yet, but have heard it's very nice. They have several small skits or shows around the park, a nice enclosed butterfly garden. They have kept several walking trails to stroll around the grounds at your leisure. There is free live entertainment in the gazebo on and off all day long as well as concerts at a large open air theater, all included in admission. You can check it out at their web site. I don't know if they will still have it going when you arrive, but ever since they opened you get 2 days for the price of one. I think it was around $40 per adult, but for 2 days that is cheap by theme park standards. You do pay to park, about 7 or 8 dollars I believe. You are greeted by southern bells and they are famous for a water skiing show they have a few times a day. The food prices are very reasonable for a tourist attraction and we ate at the buffet and was very good. I think it was $10. per adult. They only have a couple of places to get a souvenir and not much selection in the stores. This is not as crowded as other places and even late in the day you rarely wait 10 minutes to get on a ride. small lines that go quickly.
Gatorland is a place that takes 4 to 5 hours to see it all. It has a small play ground for younger kids to run off some energy, with an area for them to get wet. Mostly you see gators in their natural habitat on a trail. Also they have some neat shows to see. The aligator wrestling is the most popular, then there is the gator jumparoo, a reptile show ( don't volunteer at this one unless you love snakes!!!) They have a small petting zoo, flamingos, beautiful bird sanctuary, a black bear(judy), tortoises, and other assorted local animals. This is a family run attraction and they are very friendly. You can stroll around all day if you want. There is a short train ride for $1 per person for as many trips as you want to go on, but it wasn't worth the dollar for us as you really don't see anything on it, but if you have little kids who like to ride a train, it is a good deal for a buck. You can buy turkey hot dogs to feed the gators, and pellets to feed the fish and birds for a quarter in a machine. I believe you can buy food for the sheep and llamas at the petting zoo for a quarter too. Of course they have a snack bar to get snacks and towards the back of the park they have a BBQ place with lunch choices including gator nuggets and ribs. This place fills up very fast so I advise you to get theyre at 9 when they open and you won't feel crowded at all. Be sure and walk the trails as that is where you will see the most gators to feed and some deer too.They have a very nice gift shop with delicious candies to tempt you and lots of gator trinkets to excite the kids. This is a great low key, low stress to take your family. Kennedy space center is always nice, but if you have small kids they tend to get kind of bored. Wonder works is a great family place to go too. They are part museum, part science exhibits, part like Ripley's believe it or not. It's a hard place to explain, but lots of fun, not boring for kids or adults. I forgot to say that gatorland was about $22 per adult,so is very reasonably priced. so is wonderworks.
Hope this helps some. all of these places have web sites, not sure exactly what they are but you could use your search engine and find them pretty easy.
mom x4, grandma x4

 

[krhardy]

Kathy,
It sounds as if Cypress Gardens has come a LONG way since I lived there! I grew up in Auburndale (smack dab between Lakeland and Winter Haven) and all I remember Cypress Gardens for is the water ski show. You can imagine how exciting that is to a 10 year old who just wants to go on roller coasters! Next time I'm down to visit, I may have to go check it out...be a lot different now that I'm the mom!

 

[Disney Rocks]

Hi Kathy:

Thanks so much for the great information. I will certainly check out their websites and probably include these places in our vacation. They sound like places our little ones will enjoy. We have three older children and three younger children so it is always fun trying to find places suitable for both age groups.

I have some questions for you about Magic Kingdom. Have you been there on Christmas Day? Is it so packed that it is not worth going to that day? We were planning on the character breakfast at the castle Christmas morning but now I am getting worried that it may be too busy to enjoy. Is it busier Christmas Day than it is during that week?

Also, is it crazy busy at Walt Disney World between Christmas and New Years or is it still enjoyable? Any suggestions for a family evening on New Year's Eve (with children ranging in age from 4 to 22)? We were thinking about the Cirque du Soleil.

Thank you for your help. We are getting very excited about our vacation.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Disneyrocks,
Glad my ideas helped some with your planning.
Unless your a gluten for punishment, I wouldn't do Christmas day at MK.For at least the past 6 years I know it has maxed out by around 11 a.m. which means they are filled and won't let anyone else into the park until a few thousand people leave the park. On Christmas, they don't leave. I have heard horror stories of MK on holidays. For your breakfast you'll need a reservation way in advance. That would be ok if it's a early time because only a certain amount of people can fit into a restaurant at once. However, just because you have a reservation doesn't mean you won't have to wait unless it's for when the restaurant opens. Once people are seated they tend to take their time with their meal and Disney won't ask them to leave. So if they havn't left your table yet, you'll be waiting for awhile. My daughter in law has worked at a restaurant at WDW and that happens all the time.
I don't know if Chef Mickey's ( at the Contempory) will be open but they are a great character restaurant too. It's a buffet but excellant foods. Unfortunately at Christmas everywhere will be very busy. The week after Christmas is very busy, but not as bad as Christmas Day. You just have to be at the park of your choice a few minutes before it opens and have a plan to hit the most popular rides first, even if you have to criss cross the park. Then grab a fast pass for the next ride. Just as soon as you use that fast pass, get another one. There are plenty of other less popular rides to entertain you while waiting for your passes. After lunch we usually went back to our hotel and played in the pool to unwind and put our feet up awhile. Then eat a good dinner and head out again for the evening so we are refreshed and ready to handle the crowds better. New Years Eve is maxed out at MK too. I think cirque de solei is a great choice. But get tickets way ahead of time. If your at a disney hotel, don't drive to it, take disney transportation. The downtown disney area will be packed out early in the day because of all the night life there with pleasure island right there.
I don't know how crowded it will be but Disney quest is right next toCDS. If you have teens they may prefer to go there and meet you after the show, if your comfortable with separating for awhile. DQ is 5 stories of video games for all ages. They have a snack bar on every floor so they can get a snack if they wish. There are games for all ages, it's very, very LOUD in there, but kids love it. I think it's 25 to 30 dollars per person. But it may fill up quickly.
If you decide to do MK at Christmas I would be there way before it opened and stand with the crowd, then go for your favorites, use fastpasses and figure on leaving by around noon. Of course even at the busiest time there are some rides that arn't to hard to get in or on. such as Hall of Presidents, TT and A transit authority, the liberty belle, the enchanted tiki room, tom sawyers tree house and things like that. We will be there a couple days after Christmas because we will be having family out for the cruise and they want to see the decorations at MGM studios. We always go the first week of December so it's not so bad with the crowds. Of course we live close by now so it's a 35 minute drive and we are there. If you havnt seen the New Philharmagic 3D show at MK give it a shot. It's really cute. Excellant 3D effects. One thing that may help you with some crowds is the day after christmas and New Years Day are a little slower to start with in the early morning as most people sleep in some after being out late the night before.
The sam eis true of any Sunday. even on vacations people don't generally get moving quite as early. I'm sure no matter what you try you'll have a great time. The little kids rides max out first thing because they take so long to load and unload. so if your headed for rides in Fantasy Land for your younger kids, I suggest you head there first and then grab a fastpass for a more adventurious ride on the way. by the time you finish fantasyland you'll be ready to do the fast pass and then can grab another one.
When we came out on vacation we let everyone pick a favorite ride that was a MUST DO in each park. Then we mapped out which ones had fastpasses and a teen took all our tickets over to get fastpasses for one ride as we took the grandaughter to a kiddie ride and then we met up at Dumbo ride (easy to find). That way everbody got at least one ride they really wanted to do and if we had time to do more, great! It was a bonus for us and no one was dissapointed and we wern't rushed to death. It can really take the fun out of stuff if your running all day and trying to entertain little ones in long lines all day. Hope this helps some,
Kathy
momx4 grandma x4

 

[Disney Rocks]

Thanks so much, Kathy. This is great information and will help a lot. We do have the week before the cruise so will get to some places then. Would you think leaving Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure until after Christmas and do more of WDW beforehand would be a better idea or are those places just as busy as WDW? We are still trying to decide how to mix everything up so that it isn't too much of the same thing everyday but not hit places on their busiest days either.

Whatever we end up doing we will have a great time though because we love Disney and have been counting the days down to this trip since 609 days. We have 183 days until we leave, not for the cruise but for the start of our vacation. We are so excited.

Thank you for your help in planning our vacation. It is greatly appreciated.

 

[princessmomma]

Wow! Sandra that is a long vacation. I would be exhausted half way through. You will thoroughly enjoy yourselves. Good luck with the planning.

We are from Canada as well, originally from Saskatoon. We moved to NC over four years ago, but seems like just last month.

We also have a DD6 and our son is 8. I hope to meet onboard.

Colleen

 

[Disney Rocks]

Hi Colleen:

We are not far from Saskatoon. That must have been quite a change moving from Saskatoon to North Carolina. That is neat.

Is your DD interested in emailing with my six-year daughter? Catryna is writing to a couple of little girls already. They aren't writing a lot but just to sort of introduce each other and talk a bit before they get there. I thought it would be neat for the girls to know some names and a bit of info before they got there. Then they could look forward to meeting on the ship. Let me know if she is interested.

Take care.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Hi Sandra,
All the attractions will be overloaded that week. No matter what park you go to outside of disney saturday is the busiest and sunday the slowest( in the morning). Saturdays are super busy all the time at MK. If we are at disney on a saturday we usually head for Epcot ,as it is the easiest to get around in on busier days. They also offer fast passes for test track, mission space and soarin. You can run for one attraction, do it, get fast pass for another one and then probably have to wait 20 minutes to get on the 3rd one. Unless you do other things there until you use the fast pass and then get another one for the 3rd ride. But be warned lots of times all the fast passes for the entire day are given out by 10:30 or 11:00. The Worlds area doesn't open until 11:00 a.m. so you have time to pretty much get done in future world by then if your there when it opens. In the Worlds the only actual rides are a boat ride in mexico and a viking ship ride in Norway. Norway can line up quickly. Mexico moves along pretty fast. if you have to choose between them, go for Norway. It is fun where mexico is slow and relaxing. Both are good.
There are plenty of shows and entertainment at all the worlds. The times will be listed on a brochure to let you know when. If you ever enjoyed the Beatles, then the British Invasion at United Kingdom is a must. they are excellant. They are behind the buildings in a small courtyard. Not many benches to sit on, but most just sit on the sidewalk. If the little ones like the Pooh characters there is a toy store in the back ( by the concert) and the pooh characters are there all the time, usually little to no line.
Gatorland is ok on a saturday too, just get there when they first open.
One certain days disney opens one hour early at a selected park just fo their guests in their hotels. Those parks are super busy on those days. We avoid those parks even when we were staying in a hotel there. Almost everyone staying in a disney hotel will be there on that particular day.
another thing you can do to keep busy on a busy saturday,maybe when the parks get too busy. By blizard beach there is a mini golf course, actually two of them. Lots of fun for all ages. There is fantasia mini golf by the swan and dolphin too, but it gets way to crowded for me. The 2 courses by BB are Christmas themed too. And there is a 24 plex theater at downtown disney if you want to see a movie. It does give you something to do during peak hours in the afternoon. Sea world is small by theme park standards so it fills up quickly. This is the first Christmas that the remodeled cypress gardens will be open, so i honestly don't know how it will be. more locals than tourists go there. my son works at epcot. If you go in mouse gears gift shop watch for a Peter from silverton oregon on his name tag. His wife works at MGM at rock in roller coaster, tower of terror and fantasmic, her name is Emerald. be sure and say Hi if you see them and tell them you know their mom and mom in law. They get kick out of it when a dis board person looks them up.
Be sure and let everyone know how your vacation goes. Of course we will meet and talk on the ship too. Looking forward to meeting all of your family. My grandaughters will be 14 and 6 and grandsons will be 3 and 11. maybe they will meet some of the kids on this thread too.
Kathy
mom x4,grandma x4

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Hi Sharon,
i did some research today and found out that the week before Christmas is not nearly as busy as the week after Christmas at Disney. The supposed reasoning was that most people take 5 days off and have 4 weekend days. Most want to be at Disney for Christmas and New Years Eve, so they don't arrive until the 23 or 24 so they can stay until new years with the amount of vacation time they have. It will still be busy before, but it should be less crowded the week before.
Also my grandkids will be out in August to visit and we will be hitting all the parks in the area. If you like during that time I would be glad to pick up a brochure for you from each park and mail it to you so you can study where everything is located and which attractions have fast passes. It really helps to know your way around ahead of time. That will save you a lot of time and frustration. If you'd like me to do this, just PM me with an address to send them to and I will be glad to help. It won't be until August, but that still gives you plenty of time to look at them.
We went to Epcot today. It wasn't real crowded, because we have had a lot of rain lately. It was great for us, no lines anywhere. If the weather holds we will go to a different park tomarrow. I'm looking for things to dress up my grandkids guest room. It already has Mickey wall paper borders, Buckeroo Mickey bedspreads, and a homemade handpainted picture and frame of mickey, donald and goofy. But it needs a few touches yet. A lamp, and something to put on the dresser. I was thinking of some kind of
small canisters I could fill with some Goodies to eat from disney. I want to get some character pillows too.
well let me know if you want the brochures,
take care,
kathy
mom x4,grandma x4

 

[princessmomma]

Hi Sharon,
i did some research today and found out that the week before Christmas is not nearly as busy as the week after Christmas at Disney.

Yes, I can vouch for this. Two of our trips have been the week before Christmas. They were great! No line-ups whatsoever. My DD4 and I rode Splash Mountain 6 straight times. (I had to draw the line!)

Kathy, so good of you to share all this information! BTW, I like your response to the OP on the main board asking about if he would be disappointed with his Christmas cruise.

Colleen

 

[krhardy]

6 months from this very moment, I will be leaving my hotel room at Disney to feed my children breakfast, and then travelling on to the port for our cruise!!!!!!!!! Let's celebrate our 6 month mark today!!!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

krhardy,
I'm with you, it's time to get to a serious countdown party time.
I'm planing my pirate's outfit this month. I have a project each month to help pass the time till Dec.
I can't wait!
Hope everyone has a great weekend. We are headed for MGM and Epcot this weekend.
mom x4,grandma x4

 

[Disney Rocks]

Wow that is so cool! We have been counting down since 609 days and it has been a long haul but I agree now it is really time to celebrate and countdown. Great idea, Kathy with a project a month. That would help pass the time. We are going to see my parents in British Columbia this summer so I am thinking that will make the summer go by pretty quick. Then it is back to school and I am a college instructor so that is always a very busy time. Once we get over the rush of starting with new students and getting everyone settled, it will be so close to time to start packing and getting all the final touches on things. Also, in September we get to the 90 day mark where we can do our shore excursions and other tickets. That will be great.

Must get to work so take care and have some Disney fun. Kathy, have a great time at the parks.

 

[khakismum]

I'll be doing the real happy dance when we get our docs!!!

But until then, I'll content myself with planning school lessons on: pirates, the Caribbean, Mayans, astronomy, navigation, oceanography & SCUBA lessons. I'll have to figure out how to incorporate the planning of our excursions, our nightly outfits, and fruity boat drinks into my lesson plans! HeeHee! Gotta love a homeschool "field trip" like a 7-day Western!

Now, off to pilfer change from the couch to add to the cruise fund!

And we won't even talk about the fact DD is, right this very moment, at WDW in the MK **without** me!!! I guess it is payback for not taking her last July on DCL!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Diane,
Wow! I wish you were my teacher. What a field trip. Are the kids doing fund raiser events to help pay for the field trip? (HA! HA! HA!)
We have a busy summer to help pass the time too. One of my daughters and her family are coming out to visit from oregon. They will be on the cruise too. They will be here for 3 weeks and we will discuss excursions at that time too. Of course while they are here we will be going to all the major attractions in the area. I'll need a cruise to rest up after this summer.
Next week is shopping for pirate clothes and jewely for the girls to wear. I can get eye patches at MK for the grandsons to wear, maybe a couple of their dad's too.
Have a great weekend.
Kathy
momx4, grandma x4