>> April 1, 2012 - Disney Dream Spring Break Frenzy! <<

[Deb T.]

Thanks! I need to do some more homework it looks like. I am hoping to fly out on a nonstop Sat morning. Would love to leave on Friday, but I am required to work the last day before spring break and the only flights going out that night have changes and with 3 kids, I really don't feel like doing that.

Was thinking the same thing about the rental car shuttle....dropping off everyone but 1 at the pier, but wondering if that would leave one of us going out of our mind with 3 kids and all the luggage....I would be the crazy stressed out lady at the terminal. And the one running straight for a drink when I got on the ship!!! Now if dh took one of the twins, I would be fine with 2 kids and luggage.

The great thing about dropping off the luggage at the port is that you drive right up to the side of the terminal, the porters unload everything, and you don't see the suitcases again until they are sitting outside your stateroom door!

 

[guarn3md]

Yikes! I've been to shuttle lines like that....people throwing elbows, etc to make it on the next shuttle. We are staying at the Hampton, was the hotel okay? We are using our miles for it. We aren't planning on using the shuttle though, renting a car at Orlando airport the day before and driving over and dropping off the car the morning of the cruise. Hoping the rental car company shuttle doesn't look like that, suppose I better have a taxi # for backup.

I actually looked into rebooking the cruise off season (in Nov) and it was actually more money....I was surprised.

The Hampton was a nice hotel. We liked the pool. The shuttle was actually organized, the problem was that almost everyone who was staying at the hotel used the shuttle. We checked in at 1:00 on Sat. and the earliest time we could get for the shuttle was noon. There were people everywhere. We went outside early and looked at all the people and all the luggage and watched for about 10 mins and my Dad (who is really impatient) called for a taxi. This year we are going to fly in on Sat and stay at a hotel near the Orlando airport and then take a limo to the port on Sunday morning. Might be less hectic.
Debbie

 

[guarn3md]

I really wouldn't be surprised if we don't find a cheaper sailing and end up keeping this cruise after all. (That would be my secret hope! )

Well now that is my secret hope too!!!

Another question....doe the kids need passports? We have ours, but I hate getting theirs when they are so $$$ and aren't good very long. I bought my oldest son one when they said we needed it to go to Canada and never did need it and it is expired.

My son, Connor (9) and my sister, Asia (7) both needed their passports when we went in April. They asked for them when we went through the initial terminal gate, when we checked in inside terminal and I think when we went through customs after the cruise.

Debbie

 

[guarn3md]

Here is another round of pictures...

The line outside the terminal, after the porters have taken your luggage.



Inside the terminal



Goofy came around and visited while we waited to board the Dream. He came over and sat down next to my Dad, sister - Asia and son - Connor. It was really cool!



Enjoy...
I will try to post a picture or two every few days. I went back to work today...yuck! We have teacher workdays today through Friday and the kids start back next Tuesday (just our 6th graders) and 7th & 8th grade on Wednesday. Can't believe the summer is over....

Debbie

 

[Brookie1972]

Thanks Deb and Debbie!

I didn't think about not having all the luggage. We have been on many cruises before kids....but always taken the shuttles. Totally forgot about your bags being taken away at pier, making it way more managable with kids. The last several times flying has been hard with 3 kids, but every year older they get, it does get easier, the twins will be 5 by that time.

So it looks like passport for 3 kids.....ugh!

Debbie....teacher workdays here too, but we start the following week. Michigan passed a law where kids can't go back until after Labor Day, of course that means extra time at the end of the year. Trying to get the last bit of things done on the "summer" to do list!

 

[clc053103]

I was told by Disney that the kids do not need passports, only birth certificates. However, should you need to fly home from the bahamas for any reason, they would need one to leave by air, which I assume would only be in the event of an emergency.

Any reccommendations for transport for a family of 6? we will need from airport to hotel the day before, we will take the hotel shuttle to the port in the morning( though the pictures have me concerned), after cruise port to universal, and universal to airport.

 

[Deb T.]

I was told by Disney that the kids do not need passports, only birth certificates. However, should you need to fly home from the bahamas for any reason, they would need one to leave by air, which I assume would only be in the event of an emergency.

Good point... and something to definitely consider.

Any reccommendations for transport for a family of 6? we will need from airport to hotel the day before, we will take the hotel shuttle to the port in the morning( though the pictures have me concerned), after cruise port to universal, and universal to airport.

We've found that rental cars are the cheapest way. The more people in your group, the greater the savings! Budget allows for 1-way rentals without extra drop-off fees and I use discount codes from either the DIS Transportation board or mousesavers.com. The "location code" for Port Canaveral on Budget is CC5. I already have one car booked pre-cruise for $53.19 over a 24-hour time period that will cover airport to hotel on Saturday and hotel to port on Sunday. Then, we have a second car booked post-cruise for $35.36 to get us from the port to Downtown Disney for lunch and then the airport that afternoon for our flight home (approximately 8 hours). We rent two cars to avoid the port parking fee. Considering DCL buses are $35pp each way (airport to port and port to airport), the rental cars are saving the two of us a whopping $51.45 plus giving us a little extra time for fun!

I've reserved compact cars, but then there's only two of us whereas you would be factoring in transportation costs for six people. You could rent one vehicle at the airport upon arrival and turn it in Sunday after dropping your family and luggage at the port (and avoiding the hotel shuttle!). Then, rent a second vehicle to get from port to Universal to the airport.

 

[guarn3md]

I was told by Disney that the kids do not need passports, only birth certificates. However, should you need to fly home from the bahamas for any reason, they would need one to leave by air, which I assume would only be in the event of an emergency.

Any reccommendations for transport for a family of 6? we will need from airport to hotel the day before, we will take the hotel shuttle to the port in the morning( though the pictures have me concerned), after cruise port to universal, and universal to airport.

We have 6 people that need to get from the airport to port and back too. I considered renting through budget but didn't feel like going through the hassle. I did a google search for limo/van services and found quite a few in the area. We are going to stay at a Hampton or Marriott next to Airport on Saturday and then have a van pick us up at the hotel (same as picking up at airport) on Sunday morning and take us to the port then they will come back on Thursday and take us to the airport so we can pick up our rental car and drive to Disney. We can change it to take us to Disney if we decide not to rent the car. I looked at the hotels next to the airport and have a few in mind that offer a free shuttle from airport to the hotel. I figured we don't need to go all the way to a hotel near the port and then figure out the transport to port too, with six of us.
Hope this helps!
Debbie

 

[clc053103]

I thinki am going to look into two rentals, thanks for the input! I may even wait and try price line, I did that for a trip to Hawaii last year and scored a rental mid size for $9 a day.

 

[RemoCat]

A few things:

Re: transportation, for those who are still looking. We are a party of 6 (hubby and I, 2 kids, and 2 grandparents). We are staying at Animal Kingdom Villas the night before, and decided to rent a limo through Happy Limo (Mousesavers highly recommends them). Been happy with our contact with them so far. The limo is cheaper than Magical Express for a party this size, plus it adds to the fun factor - especially with this being a SURPRISE for our kids (they'll be thinking we're heading over to visit the Kennedy Space Center - ha - April Fools!!).

Also, I have several photos of the Dream, but I'm still pretty new here. How do I post them? My husband and I were fortunate enough to be invited on the initial cast member preview cruise Jan. 4-7 of this year with one of our best friends who works for the Mouse - WOW!!!!! That "free" cruise is now costing us some serious money, as we kept saying, "Oh man, the kids would love this!" the whole time we were there (they weren't able to join us due to limits on the number of people allowed for that cruise - they only sailed half full). Anyway, I'd love to post photos if someone can tell me how.

Finally, I don't seem to be getting consistent emails when this thread is updated. Thoughts?? It says that I'm signed up for them, but they aren't coming (I've received maybe one or two). Thanks for any tips! We are soooo excited!!!

 

[clc053103]

I am nt tech savvy so I don't know how to attach photos or figure out how to get emails. I just bookmark the thread to follow it.

Can a limo fit luggage for 6 people? I was under the impression that only a van would be able to accomodate us!

 

[Deb T.]

A few things:

Re: transportation, for those who are still looking. We are a party of 6 (hubby and I, 2 kids, and 2 grandparents). We are staying at Animal Kingdom Villas the night before, and decided to rent a limo through Happy Limo (Mousesavers highly recommends them). Been happy with our contact with them so far. The limo is cheaper than Magical Express for a party this size, plus it adds to the fun factor - especially with this being a SURPRISE for our kids (they'll be thinking we're heading over to visit the Kennedy Space Center - ha - April Fools!!).

Soooo cool that you are surprising your kids on April Fool's Day!

Also, I have several photos of the Dream, but I'm still pretty new here. How do I post them? My husband and I were fortunate enough to be invited on the initial cast member preview cruise Jan. 4-7 of this year with one of our best friends who works for the Mouse - WOW!!!!! That "free" cruise is now costing us some serious money, as we kept saying, "Oh man, the kids would love this!" the whole time we were there (they weren't able to join us due to limits on the number of people allowed for that cruise - they only sailed half full). Anyway, I'd love to post photos if someone can tell me how.

Sorry, I'm not tech savvy, either. I do know that it has something to do with uploading your photo to photobucket first, then click on the "Insert Image" link in a reply window (looks like a mountain on a post card), and then copying and pasting your photobucket url into the pop-up window. I know this is a very vague description, but that's because I really don't know all the exact steps. There might be a tutorial somewhere on the DIS boards, though??

Finally, I don't seem to be getting consistent emails when this thread is updated. Thoughts?? It says that I'm signed up for them, but they aren't coming (I've received maybe one or two). Thanks for any tips! We are soooo excited!!!

Now this I might be able to help with! Whenever you receive an email about a new post, you must then log into the DIS Boards before you can receive another "new post" email. I guess the DIS Boards considers that you've been notified to check the thread, and won't notify you again until after you've visited the site (logged in) again. You don't need to visit the actual thread that you're subscribed to, just any DIS Board thread.

 

[RemoCat]

Thanks, Deb T.! I'll try to log in more frequently...I kept thinking that I'd be alerted, and figured our thread was just really quiet. Glad to know we're not a quiet bunch, because I certainly am not! Maybe I'll see if I can just load some photos to a site and link that site here, so people can see lots of the ship. I took a "few" photos...

Yes, quite the April's Fool's this will be. They (daughter will be 10, son 6) think we're going to Disney World next summer (have a date picked out in June with a countdown going and everything). We'll be waking them up bright and early on March 31st, surprising them with phase one of the trip. They'll think the big surprise is that we are just going to Disney a few months early. They'll have NO IDEA about the cruise, because we've basically told them there's no way we'll be able to do one anytime soon. We won't tell them about the cruise until cruise day, either. We're then coming back to the parks for 4 more nights and celebrating Easter there. Can't WAIT!!!

As far as the limo, the website says it will hold 8 people, 5 large suitcases, and 6 carry-ons. We try to pack compact anyway, so this shouldn't be a problem for us. That's one large for each adult (my hubby and I can often do Disney on one for the both of us), and one large for the kids, plus all the carry-ons. Hope that helps. You can check them out at happylimo.com For us, doing round trip Disney-Port Canav-Disney, it was cheaper than ME, and only $30 or $40 more than their van. We decided that for the price difference, it was worth the extra wow factor, especially with the surprise we're doing. But, another time I might have chosen to just save the money.

That's all for now. -Erin

 

[guarn3md]

To post a picture
upload your pictures photobucket
open a reply or new thread or new post on Disboards.
on the photobucket page you will see a bunch of codes under each picture - just click on the last code, can't remember what it says - img or url but I am pretty sure it is the last code. all you have to do is click in the box and it was say that the code was copied.
Then back on your post click on the mountain in the box, next to the world. When you click on it delete the http that automatically comes up, it will already be there from the photobucket url. After deleting, left click in the empty space and click copy - the code for the image should be there.
That's it...
You can check your progress by clicking "Go Advanced" or preview post and you should be able to see your image in the preview.
Let me know if you have any other questions.

Regarding transportation - I too found that limo for six people to be a better price and also "wow" instead of the van. I am handling the arrangements and figure I won't say anything and just let the limo show up at the hotel. It will be a nice ride out to the port.
I am glad this thread is starting to move a little. The last Spring Break cruise thread was really active!!!

Debbie

 

[ShowReady]

Getting married on March 31, and this will be our Honeymoon cruise. Just me and DW! We spent a week in Disney last February, and we are beyond excited to be on a Disney Vacation again!

 

[guarn3md]

Hello All...
Haven't posted in a while...between back-to-school, earthquakes (the same day), hurricanes, and days long power outages - it's been pretty busy here in MD!!! Posting a few pictures from 4/2011

Boarding the Dream from the terminal

The top deck standing in front of the line for Aquaduck...this picture was taken the first morning around 9am.

Our cabin - 10610, Category 4A...slept 5 people. There was a queen bed, the sofa bed, you can see the rectangle drop down area in the ceiling for the upper berth and you can just see to the right of the pic the wooden cabinet that houses the Murphy bed.

Have a great holiday weekend!
Debbie

 

[VA_mouseman]

I'm checking back in as well! We had a great summer, and just got back from a long vacation (half of which was outrunning Irene. Oh, and we also missed the DC earthquake!).

On a Disney note, the wife and I are going to do a quick solo weekend in mid December, meeting up with friends. I'll scratch my Disney itch anyway I can!

 

[Brookie1972]

Thanks for the new pics!

Getting ready for back to school too, but in MI we don't start until after Labor Day.

I am very disappointed to say flights came out yesterday for Airtran (our only non stop flight option) and the prices to go the dates we wanted to go were $800 per person...and we have 5 people. I knew we would have to pay more at this time of the year, but bummed that it was that high. Anyway, we got them down to $400 per person (about double what we normally pay!), but we are coming in just 2 days before the cruise and leaving the night the cruise returns.

So, now trying to decided what to do with the 2 days pre cruise. I am tempted to do Disney, but the crowd numbers are at their highest...not sure I want to mess with that. We are going for a full week in the summer. Anyway, we will only have 1/2 day first day and a full day on Sat.

I have Cocoa Beach hotel booked for night before cruise, but open to cancelling it to stay 2 nights in Orlando or adding an day if we want to stay in Cocoa Beach for 2 nights. Not sure if there is enough to keep us busy there.

Anyway, the kids are 9, 5, 5....wondering if anyone has any recommendations. We haven't did anything in the Orlando area other than Disney before and never did anything at Cocoa Beach before either. If there are any cool hotels that would be fun for kids, that is always a possibility too.

 

[RemoCat]

Gang,

Heads up - Southwest JUST released fares through April 9th this morning!! We scored and got tickets for $121 each way, for the times we wanted. Jump on them early, as they'll be snatched up. We were even able to use on Rapid Rewards credit so one of our kids is flying free - YEA!!! If Southwest is at your airport, book NOW!!

That's all for now. Still plan to post some pics when I get more time to sit at the computer.

Erin

 

[guarn3md]

All set to get tickets on Southwest this am (early)...then yesterday started with a head cold. Took some meds before going to sleep last night and woke up at 10am!!!
Went to Southwest and there was nothing good...couldn't believe the prices and the lack of nonstop flights from BWI to MCO. Ended up checking out Jetblue from Reagan and they had exactly what I was looking for and nonstop too! Just booked our flights!!!
We are flying in Saturday afternoon (3/31) staying in Orlando at a Marriott hotel (free night) and the taking a limo to port on Sunday. Then leaving 4/9 after spending Thurs - Mon at WDW. Yes I know it will be crowded but we did it this year and the weather was great, loved the Flower/garden show and we will be at the end of our AP's so want to get the most out of them!!
Good luck to everyone as you secure your travel plans!
Off to tackle the laundry monster and take more meds!
Debbie