April 17, 2011 on the Dream

[alenushka]

We are staying at the County Inn & Suites the night before the cruise. We have booked the stay & cruise package...leaving the car at CI&S and they take us to the port.

After the cruise we are headed to over to WDW for two nights at WL.

Debbie

Hi Debbie,
Did you stay with them before? We stayed at Radisson last time, I just wanted to compare these two hotels.

 

[alenushka]

I hope someone can help with this question...
We are new to cruising!
I am trying to put together a Christmas present for my son (9) and sister (6); at the age of 42 I have a six year old sister...my parents adopted last year. Anyway...
we are going to tell them about the cruise with a Christmas present - it has been so hard keeping this a secret!
I bought mesh DCL bags and a DCL pins off ebay but I also want to make a DCL specific autograph book for them. How do I know which characters will be on board? Is it the mainstream characters only or will there be some rare ones? I want to make the book specific to the cruise. Is it easy for the kids to get autographs or will there be long lines and they won't see many characters? Like I said, we have never been on a cruise and have been to WDW many times...
I am thinking that the present will be the mesh bag with a beach towel, disney pin on a lanyard (may take one they already own), autograph book and other beachy items. Anyone have any other suggestions. I looked at the DISign board last night and got a few ideas.
Is there a good place to go to for more information about the cruise?
Thanks for all the help!
Debbie

Wouldn't it be easier to purchase an autograph book, the one where one side is for autographs and the other for pictures? These books are great. You will insert pictures later, right next to autographs.
Getting autographs is much easier on a cruise compare to parks. You would know where and at what time you would meet them, plus, you might be surprised with unplanned encounters (never happened to us though ). On the last night of the cruise, there is a farewell presentation. All characters come at the same time giving you an opportunity to catch up. Last time we got autographs with Peter Pan, Anne Marie, and Captain Hook and some others who were not signing at any other times during the cruise. But they are only doing it for about 5-10 minutes and then all go away at the same time. And this is when our DD starts crying saying "I wish it would not never end".....

 

[bdink921]

Anyone see the main board post about show times being assigned according to dining room seating? I emailed my TA and we have the 7p show. We have second seating for dinner.

 

[lildeb724]

Anyone see the main board post about show times being assigned according to dining room seating? I emailed my TA and we have the 7p show. We have second seating for dinner.

We actually switched a group of 11 from main seating to late if anyone wants to try and grab it!

 

[bdink921]

Thanks for the info. A couple of questions......

We will be flying Jetblue, are they in the same terminal as SW? As for parking, is Executive an off airport parking facility? From the pictures/maps it looks like the onsite parking garage is close to the terminal and has a covered walkway - true?

Thanks.

I have no idea where Jet Blue is. Executive is off site -- quick drive in to the terminal you're flying from by shuttle. I've never used the onsite garage, sorry.

 

[jilljill]

Anyone see the main board post about show times being assigned according to dining room seating? I emailed my TA and we have the 7p show. We have second seating for dinner.

I just emailed my TA again about this since I haven't heard back from her yet and I emailed her yesterday. Strange since she usually gets back to me quickly.
I was also looking for the 7:00 show and late seating.

 

[caronjn]

I love flying out of BDL --easy check in, SW terminal is nice, plenty of seating. There are a couple of fast food places in the terminal and the usual small 'store' with drinks, snacks, books, etc. There are lots of places to park --we like Executive.

We flly BDL all the time and think its great - lots to do and eat in the terminal after security check in, so you're not struggling at all with wee-ones! ... I guess the only thing to be aware of is its pretty small, compared to any of your major cities. Thats not a good/bad thing though - - just an observation ...

 

[scootch]

Scootch, what's a choice certificate. How do I get one?

Call Hyatt first to book a room using a choice certificate. They do ask for a credit card just in case you wouldn't cancel and not show up. Then go to this site and buy the choice certificate(there are different levels for different hotels, the choice is the lowest for the orlando airport Hyatt) https://www.certificates.hyatt.com/products/CertsStay.aspx The rooms are really luxurious and the kids loved looking out over the balcony and hanging in the shops in the morning. You don't have to have a business address or anything for the certificate. It comes really quickly, I ordered mine Tuesday and it arrived fedex on Wed!

 

[svcutler]

Thanks Scootch! I'll give it a try!

Any other CT folks lose their power this morning? I'm typing by candlelight here in Trumbull....

Crazy storm!

 

[alenushka]

Thanks Scootch! I'll give it a try!

Any other CT folks lose their power this morning? I'm typing by candlelight here in Trumbull....

Crazy storm!

It is a crazy storm. NYC is still recovering from the tornado that hit it last week, now - lots of highways are under water and lots of trees are on top of houses once again.... East coast has been hit hard this year

 

[Deb T.]

Stay safe, all you North Easterners. You are getting the same storm that passed through here over the last two days, the remnant of Tropical Storm Nicole. Several school systems were closed yesterday due to flooding. They had received over 14 inches of rain by last night!

 

[svcutler]

OK, I went online and bought the certificate for the Hyatt and will only have to pay $135. The certificate should be showing up next week!

Thanks to all of you guys for the tip. Saving money left and right with all your help!

Now if I could just figure out this IPAD thing....

 

[jilljill]

DD's school was closed today because of flooding the area. There were only 3 school districts closed in our county and she happened to be one of them, but that doesn't surprise me since buses pick up kids from the entire county for her school.


We've decided to just drive down for the cruise unless USAir lowers prices before the end of the month when we have coupons that expire. Doesn't bother us to drive and it's 1 less time we have to ask someone to do airports runs to/from MCO. We'll most likely leave here Fri. evening and then head back home Easter Sunday morning.

 

[Ness2289]

Out of curiosity... Are any of you on Facebook? I was thinking about the idea of us having our own private group there. I could set it up, but only if you all are willing to join. I know people have lots of different feelings about social networking sites, so I just want to get a feel for if you all would like to do something like this. If not, no problem!

I've done my research and can tell you that the group would be invisible on your profile to everyone but you. The only people who would have access are the people I personally send an invite to. If we decide to do it, you would PM me your email address and I would then send an invite.

Your thoughts...

 

[alenushka]

Out of curiosity... Are any of you on Facebook? I was thinking about the idea of us having our own private group there. I could set it up, but only if you all are willing to join. I know people have lots of different feelings about social networking sites, so I just want to get a feel for if you all would like to do something like this. If not, no problem!

I've done my research and can tell you that the group would be invisible on your profile to everyone but you. The only people who would have access are the people I personally send an invite to. If we decide to do it, you would PM me your email address and I would then send an invite.

Your thoughts...

I would love it if you organize it! I will PM you my email.

 

[lildeb724]

pm'ing email

 

[goofy4tink]

Out of curiosity... Are any of you on Facebook? I was thinking about the idea of us having our own private group there. I could set it up, but only if you all are willing to join. I know people have lots of different feelings about social networking sites, so I just want to get a feel for if you all would like to do something like this. If not, no problem!

I've done my research and can tell you that the group would be invisible on your profile to everyone but you. The only people who would have access are the people I personally send an invite to. If we decide to do it, you would PM me your email address and I would then send an invite.

Your thoughts...

Us too...will send email.

 

[disneycruisegal]

Ness2289, just PM'd you with my email, should be fun on facebook.

 

[Deb T.]

Out of curiosity... Are any of you on Facebook? I was thinking about the idea of us having our own private group there. I could set it up, but only if you all are willing to join. I know people have lots of different feelings about social networking sites, so I just want to get a feel for if you all would like to do something like this. If not, no problem!

I've done my research and can tell you that the group would be invisible on your profile to everyone but you. The only people who would have access are the people I personally send an invite to. If we decide to do it, you would PM me your email address and I would then send an invite.

Your thoughts...

I just pm'd you my email address.

For anyone not already on Facebook and/or would rather not sign up for it, don't worry... we'll still continue to post on here, too. The Facebook site will just be an additional place where we can feel safe about sharing photos and personal information without it being viewed by anyone in the world.

 

[jel0511]

Just sent you a PM, thanks for coming up with this and putting it together.