August 12, 2011 Disney Dream Meet Link Here

[Gary Pinkos]

I have it bookmarked... so I am always hoping for a new post!!! This week has been so crazy with back to school for me. The kids and Nick start back on Tuesday. (Nick did have meetings this week though...) It was so hard getting up at 5am to go back to work. I think that was the worst part of it! I am just so tired!!! Good thing they gave us off tomorrow and Monday to sleep it off!!!

I am sad to not see anyone posting anymore. I don't know if this dream link will be closed eventually? I am just not sure that everyone is aware of our facebook group. I am going to just keep posting here for awhile and see what happens.

 

[mominva]

Hi everyone - I haven't posted since we got back, but I did want to say thank you VERY MUCH for all the wonderful FE gifts. I think it really made the cruise that much more special for my kids. They were always very excited to get back to the cabin and see if there were any surprises.

I booked another cruise while on board, but booked a dummy date late in 2012. We plan to cruise again in 2013 - since we don't know the itineraries yet, I'm not sure where we'll go, but probably somewhere other than the bahamas. The western Caribbean cruises sound great....

I think my favorite memory from the cruise is our last night. My children were tired and we opted to not go to the formal dinner. Instead, we hung out pool side, watched a movie and ate burgers. My daughter particularly loved the idea of watching a movie at night while swimming. It was such a wonderful, relaxed evening. Does anyone else have a favorite memory they'd like to share?

 

[Gary Pinkos]

It is hard to pick one memory as the one that stands out. The time goes too fast while on the ship. Months and months of planning and anticipation ......then your getting off the dream.

We very much enjoyed the dining rotation, we had fun every night with our servers, and we met a great family at our table. We seemed to have many common interests, made for a very pleasant experience.

Seeing Donny Osmond was fun and unexpected.

Castaway Cay is just a awesome day.

Pirate night was fun.

I totally enjoyed giving and getting FE gifts and meeting friends while doing it, and putting faces together with friends from this thread.

Just relaxing......spending awesome alone time on deck with my wife, away from the hussle & bussle of everyday life.

Sunrise from the ships deck.

Spending excellant time with all three of my daughters, sometimes all together, sometimes just one on one. I love being able to spend time with my family!

Walt Disney Theater

Putting on five pounds

 

[jerseygal]

Hi, Gary Pinkus!

You are so right! So hard to pick out one memory! We LOVED THE DREAM, AUGUST 12-16TH..I think if I had to "choose" its of my idea of PARADISE..CASTAWAY CAY! Wow, what a fun beach day that was..I was there from 9:00AM till 4:15! Found it hard leaving such an awesome place!

With the devastation of Irene,, hard for me to imagine that we were at CC, Sunday, Aug.14th and 2 weeks later Sun.Aug.28th we were sitting in the dark in our home that evening for a power outage due to Irene! Irene was so scary, but thank God our particular home was not touched except for a short power outage of 9 hours! Feel so blessed!

Can't wait for our return trip on the Dream summer of 2012! Same itiniary 4 nights, just enough for us with some additional days at WDW spent using DVC!

GREAT MEETING YOU GARY! WISH I WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE ACTIVE ON THE CRUISE MEET AND GREET AND TAKING ADVANTAGE!

KEEP THOSE DISNEY DREAM MEMORIES FOREVER IN YOUR HEART AND FOREVER WITH YOUR FAMILY!

GOD BLESS!

 

[lexandme]

I think my favorite memory was also the day at Castaway Cay. I love that place! It's cold here in the Burgh today and the rain keeps pouring down (leftover from tropical storm Lee). I'm wearing my CC sweatshirt and thinking about the sun and sand and warm salt water. And cookies BBQ, fruity tropical drinks and sea shells. I can't get back there fast enough!

I am a huge, huge Bob Marley fan. Number 1 on my bucket list is a trip into the mountains of Jamaica to visit his boyhood home and his final resting place in 9 Mile, but also a trip to the Marley Resort and Spa in the Bahamas. Every trip to Nassau I get off the ship and make a right into town. I was looking at a map of Nassau over the weekend and realized that the Marley Resort is 2 blocks to the left of the pier. How could I be so stupid!!! I have missed it every trip there! I'm doing the Dream on 4/29 and as soon as that ship docks I am RUNNING off that pier and heading straight to the left!!!

Everyone stay safe and dry.

 

[Gary Pinkos]

I'm doing the Dream on 4/29 and as soon as that ship docks I am RUNNING off that pier and heading straight to the left!!!

Everyone stay safe and dry.

Who are you going on this trip with?


I miss everyone's comments, I guess now that the trip is over....this thread is done? No one has been commenting on facebook lately either. But it seems that although its a closed group, all my comments show up on my home page. Which seems to get strange coments from other friends who wonder who I am talking too

I was hoping to have a new date picked for my cruise.....I thought date were coming out in September.....hoping for October.

Does anyone know if FE is a Disney cruise exclusive or do people on other cruises do this as well? Janet is thinking about making a few and I will see if we can sell them on e-Bay.......help pay for the cruise?

Football season starts tomorrow, I was hoping for some back & forth bantor from Mike in Cowboy country and Rich in Giant country.

 

[lexandme]

Who are you going on this trip with?


I miss everyone's comments, I guess now that the trip is over....this thread is done? No one has been commenting on facebook lately either. But it seems that although its a closed group, all my comments show up on my home page. Which seems to get strange coments from other friends who wonder who I am talking too

I was hoping to have a new date picked for my cruise.....I thought date were coming out in September.....hoping for October.

Does anyone know if FE is a Disney cruise exclusive or do people on other cruises do this as well? Janet is thinking about making a few and I will see if we can sell them on e-Bay.......help pay for the cruise?

Football season starts tomorrow, I was hoping for some back & forth bantor from Mike in Cowboy country and Rich in Giant country.

And Judy in Stiller country?

I am going on the 4/29 cruise with 2 girlfriends. Thinking about coming then too? If you and Janet make FE's let me know. We'll definitely need one and I am "challenged"! I don't know if people on other cruise lines do anything like FE or not. I've never cruised anything but DCL.

Did you book a dummy date on board?

 

[pittsburghgirl]

Hey hey everyone! Rae here. BIG Steeler game tomorrow. But since I live in Cinci I am subjected to watching the Bungals and Brownies! Ugh! I miss everyone! I am looking to book nov 3, 2012 on the Magic. I can get it for 3200. for 7 days from Galvaston. I think I like the Magic better anyway. I know, hard to believe. Been watching as much 911 coverage as possible. Still amazes me and horrifies me. Cara has turned out to be my words with friends buddy. Still bummed I never met Jamey. I think Disney only does FE's. Great idea Janet. I need to find another job so I can do a cruise every year. sorry I haven't posted. Thought I would see more on Facebook. I think I'll go post on there now. HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

 

[Gary Pinkos]

And Judy in Stiller country?

I am going on the 4/29 cruise with 2 girlfriends. Thinking about coming then too? If you and Janet make FE's let me know. We'll definitely need one and I am "challenged"! I don't know if people on other cruise lines do anything like FE or not. I've never cruised anything but DCL.

Did you book a dummy date on board?

Stillers are okay in my book, so no bantor needed on my end. Eagles are my first team, but stillers I always root for......unless its a all PA game.

We did book a dummy date, looking forward to actually picking a real date in 2013. Most likely it will be in the same August time frame......it all will depend of school for Stacey & Robin. Never been on a vacation without the girls. Some day Janet & I may go away on our own......but we enjoy our girls.....and we had 10 years of marriage and vacations before we were blessed with our girls.

Although Rae......that 7 nights on the magic for $3200 sounds pretty good!!!

Looking on e-Bay, no too many sellers of the FE's, and prices seem fair, I guess Janet needs to make a few, with time & material cost considered to make sure its worthwhile? I sold football & holiday inflatables on e-Bay for years, but that market has slowed up quite a bit over the last few years.

I have been avoiding all the 911 stuff on TV, but even without watching all those memories......its still ever present. I am sure tomorrow will be a very emotional day for everyone!

 

[Gary Pinkos]

Great football day for me!

Great 911 tributes

Sorry the Steelers lost

My two favorite teams won....The Eagles and whoever plays the Cowboys...... added bonus.....the Giants lost

 

[lexandme]

Steelers deserved to lose. They played like a bunch of OLD girls!
I watched the Jets take the Cowboys. That was a pretty sight!

 

[CareBear05]

Hey everyone!

It's been awhile since I've been on a computer instead of my phone so I thought I'd drop in and say hello finally! I miss everyone on here. It's so fun meeting new friends and having fun planning.

One of the physicians in my office is on the Dream right now in Nassau I believe. She booked it last month after we got back from our trip. She cornered me at lunch on Friday with all of her guide books and a list of questions. Very jealous!! But that 30 minutes made my day because it seemed like I was planning my own vacation all over again. Can't wait until she's back next week so I can hear all about it.

Gary, I thought of you when I saw that the Eagles won. The Steelers...well...I have 3 words for you.... LET'S GO PENS! That game was a disaster to watch. My sister and I were texting during the game. She nailed it right on the head when she said.... "No! You can't stop watching now! It's like a train wreck, you HAVE to keep watching."

Seems like everyone is going Caribbean next go around. I'd love to eventually try out the Magic and the Fantasy, but I'd need 2 more jobs. Maybe in 2014. Anyone have any WDW trips planned?

 

[Gary Pinkos]

Hey everyone!

Gary, I thought of you when I saw that the Eagles won. The Steelers...well...I have 3 words for you.... LET'S GO PENS! That game was a disaster to watch. My sister and I were texting during the game. She nailed it right on the head when she said.... "No! You can't stop watching now! It's like a train wreck, you HAVE to keep watching."

Seems like everyone is going Caribbean next go around. I'd love to eventually try out the Magic and the Fantasy, but I'd need 2 more jobs. Maybe in 2014. Anyone have any WDW trips planned?

I was thinking of all my Pittsburgh friends when I saw that score.....I guess the Ravens were looking for revenge after last years title game.....its only one game, in a few weeks hopefully the Steelers will have winning record, and that game yesterday will be just a bad memory.

Eagles won, but we have our problems......but it was a great first day! Giants lost..... Cowboys lost......life is good Poor Donovan just sucked

I booked a dummy date for next December, but we are planning another Dream cruise for August, 2013. Hopefully a 5 night cruise, but basically similar to what we did this year. Daughters in high school & college make this a good time for us to vacation. My oldest daughter drove home from Virginia to PA on the 10th, did her wash and packed on the 11th, we were on the dream the 12th. We went to WDW after the dream, got home late on the 22nd, she did wash on the 23rd and had classes at college the 24th.....she is only about 1 hour away, but she is busy all the time.

We are going to WDW next July 30th, for 9 days. We are vacationing wth two other families from our church. One family has been to WDW a few times, but not recently, thier kids are 18 and 13, the second family has never been, and they have kids 13, 9 and 6.....so this will be so much fun. Plus we have another family that went to our church that moved to Orlando about 5 years ago......so we will have close to 20 in our group at the parks if we all stay together?

 

[CareBear05]

We are going to WDW next July 30th, for 9 days. We are vacationing wth two other families from our church. One family has been to WDW a few times, but not recently, thier kids are 18 and 13, the second family has never been, and they have kids 13, 9 and 6.....so this will be so much fun. Plus we have another family that went to our church that moved to Orlando about 5 years ago......so we will have close to 20 in our group at the parks if we all stay together?

That sounds like a lot of fun Gary!!! Where are you guys all staying at? DVC I assume, but which property? We'll be in a GV and Studio at OKW in May, I'm very excited.

My best advice I learned this year from our group is this: If you do stick together, make sure you get to the parks at the same time and have a general plan of what you want to do and see. The 15 of us arrived to Epcot all at different times (meaning some had already done attractions while some hadn't) and had no definitive plans other than lunch at BW and Illuminations. That resulted in doing probably triple the amount of walking/back tracking than usual and some very crabby (myself included) vacationers.

 

[Gary Pinkos]

That sounds like a lot of fun Gary!!! Where are you guys all staying at? DVC I assume, but which property? We'll be in a GV and Studio at OKW in May, I'm very excited.

My best advice I learned this year from our group is this: If you do stick together, make sure you get to the parks at the same time and have a general plan of what you want to do and see. The 15 of us arrived to Epcot all at different times (meaning some had already done attractions while some hadn't) and had no definitive plans other than lunch at BW and Illuminations. That resulted in doing probably triple the amount of walking/back tracking than usual and some very crabby (myself included) vacationers.

Our home resort is OKW, so I booked a grand villa there at the 11 month window. I may try to change it at 7 month......not sure? If everyone in all three families actually goes on this vacation , the grand villa is two beds short, so we may end up going with 4 studios.......so if this happens I may try a different resort.

I appreciate the tip about us all going at the same time......I would have never thought of that, but can really see how that could just add to the confusion and walking.........and crabbyness.

Trish who is the Mom of the family that has gone before, offered to be the organizing person / tour guide. She has used tour guide Mike's information / program before.......I told her we will be happy to let her have the lead on this. I am not a daily park planning person, more of a just go with the flow.....so I don't want these other families to miss something that they really want to see or do.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

Yea Steelers! Watching Gary's Eagles now. I'm torn with who I want to win...I'm not a Vick fan after the dog incident. Have a good week everyone.

 

[Gary Pinkos]

Yea Steelers! Watching Gary's Eagles now. I'm torn with who I want to win...I'm not a Vick fan after the dog incident. Have a good week everyone.

Interesting comment.

When we got Mike Vick.......I couldn't believe it.....first we had Donovan & Kevin Kolb and had no need for that man......I am a dog lover and never thought I could forgive him.

Well I still can't ever forgive what he did, and if I thought he could do that again I would be right in line to see justice be done to him in a manly way......but the Mike Vick I see is a hard working man, he does good things in the community, he talks in public against dog fighting, but not because it is expected......I believe he is a changed man. I have been able to forgive Mike Vick and accept him as a man that has changed his life.

I understand that many people around the country may never understand this, but I believe most fans in the Phila area have accepted him and see a changed man.....I would love to hear from Lani on this?

 

[autimom]

How is everyone doing? Anyone cruising again soon? I can't wait for the 2013/Magic itineraries to come out.

I deactivated my FB account and made a new one because it looked like myspace. Please invite me to our closed group. Thanks

 

[zuperdaave]

How is everyone doing? Anyone cruising again soon? I can't wait for the 2013/Magic itineraries to come out.

I deactivated my FB account and made a new one because it looked like myspace. Please invite me to our closed group. Thanks

We're on the Fantasy in 2013...