August 25 2012

[Kaizen]

Thanks so much for that info. Starting to think about details and this will help!

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

Let the planning begin We have less than 27 weeks until we cruise

 

[Trinity524]

Has anyone booked their air travel yet? The prices seem sky high!

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

I haven't book yet. I always use my 90 day rule if the prices don't drop and the seats are still available for my preferred flight.

I always check flight prices that are 90 days out from today and see what they are going for if they are cheaper than the actual vacation dates, I will wait and typically they drop

Also, the media reports that the best days to buy airline tickets are mid week. I have a business trip to Chicago coming up in May and the price of the airfare dropped by 40 dollars on Wednesday and went right back up on the weekend

Out of PHL Usairways typically matches the prices of the other airlines and since they participate in the DCL's Onboard Airline Check-In, we will most likely fly with them.

Joe

 

[JKSWonder]

I booked my airfare with JetBlue as soon as the schedule was opened up through the first week of September 2012. I had an air credit with them that I had to use or lose, so it made sense for me to just go for it. The round trip airfare for my same flights have jumped by over $600 roundtrip for my family of five, so at the moment, I'm kind of glad I'm already booked. Of course, those could go down, but I don't think they would go down by enough to make me too upset. I would have been more upset about losing the air credit I had.

I also received a change to my outgoing flight on September 1st. It was moved up by an hour to 3:45 p.m., which is fine by me since it means less time for us at the airport.

I've also booked us for two nights at Port Orleans Riverside for the two days we are there prior to the cruise.

 

[gdulaney]

I haven't booked our pre-cruise stay....last year I was able to get a really low rate at a Hampton Inn in Orlando.

After the cruise, we've got ressies for two nights at the Treehouses. I am so exicited!! I love staying at the Treehouses, but since it's usually just Andy and myself, it doesn't make sense. We've got four friends staying with us. Did I mention that I'm really, really excited?!?

Ginny

-PS- There were some really cute Disney items at Target, in the Dollar Spot.

 

[eyes4mickey]

I haven't booked our pre-cruise stay....last year I was able to get a really low rate at a Hampton Inn in Orlando.

After the cruise, we've got ressies for two nights at the Treehouses. I am so exicited!! I love staying at the Treehouses, but since it's usually just Andy and myself, it doesn't make sense. We've got four friends staying with us. Did I mention that I'm really, really excited?!?

Ginny

-PS- There were some really cute Disney items at Target, in the Dollar Spot.

We're flying Southwest out of Philly, I booked the day they went on sale and paid $119 each way.

I just booked SSR for 2 nights pre-cruise, we havent stayed there before but, I wanted to be in walking distance to DTD. No parks for us this time.

I haven't given much thought to excursions yet but, I did start looking into Bernard's Tours in St Martin, has anyone done this?

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

We're flying Southwest out of Philly, I booked the day they went on sale and paid $119 each way.

I just booked SSR for 2 nights pre-cruise, we havent stayed there before but, I wanted to be in walking distance to DTD. No parks for us this time.

I haven't given much thought to excursions yet but, I did start looking into Bernard's Tours in St Martin, has anyone done this?

That's a great airfare price

I just got my "Stay Certificates" for the MCO Hyatt today We will fly in Friday morning before the cruise, check in at the ME desk and take DCL transportation to the port

We are not going to the parks because we have been visiting the parks a lot with taking 5 DCL cruises since 2006 In early August we are taking another vacation to St. Lucia so we will have no funds to spend extra days in Florida

 

[minie_meese]

One AirTran flight is the only direct from Rochester to Orlando so we booked as soon as it became available $210 round trip. We are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge for 2 nights pre-cruise - no parks for us either - just going to enjoy the resort. A few of our group may go to a water park.

 

[JKSWonder]

That's a great airfare price

I just got my "Stay Certificates" for the MCO Hyatt today We will fly in Friday morning before the cruise, check in at the ME desk and take DCL transportation to the port

We are not going to the parks because we have been visiting the parks a lot with taking 5 DCL cruises since 2006 In early August we are taking another vacation to St. Lucia so we will have no funds to spend extra days in Florida

We just visited St. Lucia this past October for our 15th wedding anniversary. Loved it, so beautiful, cannot wait to visit there again. Where are you staying? We were at the Sandals Grande.

I think we will probably visit just MK while we are there. We arrive Thursday, so I think we are going to just enjoy the resort pool and then maybe head on over to Downtown Disney for the evening. We would do MK on Friday.

Honestly, I'd be o.k. with skipping the parks too, but my kids are not. Their last visit was in July 2011, but you would think it had been years they way they make it sound!

 

[My4PhillyGirls]

We just visited St. Lucia this past October for our 15th wedding anniversary. Loved it, so beautiful, cannot wait to visit there again. Where are you staying? We were at the Sandals Grande.

I think we will probably visit just MK while we are there. We arrive Thursday, so I think we are going to just enjoy the resort pool and then maybe head on over to Downtown Disney for the evening. We would do MK on Friday.

Honestly, I'd be o.k. with skipping the parks too, but my kids are not. Their last visit was in July 2011, but you would think it had been years they way they make it sound!

We are renting a house with relatives It has six bedrooms and a spectacular view, a maid/cook and is supposed to be only 10 minutes from the local resturants

 

[eyes4mickey]

We just visited St. Lucia this past October for our 15th wedding anniversary. Loved it, so beautiful, cannot wait to visit there again. Where are you staying? We were at the Sandals Grande.

I think we will probably visit just MK while we are there. We arrive Thursday, so I think we are going to just enjoy the resort pool and then maybe head on over to Downtown Disney for the evening. We would do MK on Friday.

Honestly, I'd be o.k. with skipping the parks too, but my kids are not. Their last visit was in July 2011, but you would think it had been years they way they make it sound!

Have you seen any deals on park tickets? I would love to go to Epcot for the day on Friday but, I just can't just justify the one day ticket price.

I think well just hang by the pool and walk over to DTD for dinner too.

Have you looked into any excursions yet?

 

[eyes4mickey]

One AirTran flight is the only direct from Rochester to Orlando so we booked as soon as it became available $210 round trip. We are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge for 2 nights pre-cruise - no parks for us either - just going to enjoy the resort. A few of our group may go to a water park.

Wow, thats a great price on the Air. We have to leave on a 7am flight!! I don't know what I was thinking. The next flight isn't til 5pm. Once we get down there, i'm sure I will be happy to have the full day.

 

[i12go2wdw]

Hi Everyone,
I have updated the FE list, we have over 20 on the list now
If you don't see your name on the list or if I made a mistake (or 2) please let me know
Pudo-Jeff, Missy, Catherine-19, Sarah- 8 Rooms 10078/10080
hortontrio- Michael, Carrie, Jessica- 8 Room 6690
Kaizen- Susanne, Jim, Alexa- 12
JKSwonder- Jane, Mike, Allison- 11, Michael- 6, Nana (Janet) Room 7102
i12go2wdw- Dan, Christine, Jordan- 20, Rebecca- 16, Mitchell- 14, Nicole- 9
i12go2wdw- Iain, Nonie, Kate-15, Eric-12 Room 2015
Suzannecat- Suzanne, Joe, David -14, Eliana -10 Rooms 8559 and 8563
Disneydonnam- Curt and Donna Room 6082
John21601- John, Heather, Megan- 7 room 6876
Chrisd12- Christina, Demitrios, Nicholas- 10, Sophia- 7 Room 8582
Trinity524- DF, DW, DH, DS Room 8092
Bytor01-Mary, Tim,, James-10, Moira-10 Room 10534
Allisonmilam7- DW, DH, DD-12, DD-8
Oldpatterns- Peter, Michelle, DD Sam-15, DS Erick-11 Room 8508
Minie meese- Elaine and David Room 9514
-Ruth, Matt and Ceanna-9 Room 9516
-Sondra and Nicole-8 Room 9510
Krisgils33-Kris, Greg, Casey Emma (Age 10 at cruise time) Cabin #6058
Cloie 13-- Jenn, Victor, Arianna - 8, Callea- 6 Room 6068
My4PhillyGirls- Joe, Michelle, Natalia- 20, Jenei- 16, Deyshia- 12 Rooms 7588, 7590
coconutsunshine- Jenny, Sean, DS Crewe- 3
Kymicheyfan717 -Kathy W. Room- 7192
gdulaney-Andy, Ginny and Diana Dulaney.... Stateroom # 6508

We are getting so excited, we talk about it all the time. We have strted making our dining reservations. We were sad that Hoop Dee Doo is undergoing refurbishment during our trip
Trying to decide what to do for our Fish Extender Exchange, it is always so fun to see what people do!!
Airfare is so high, almost twice as expensive as 2 years ago I hope it comes down soon.

 

[JKSWonder]

We are renting a house with relatives It has six bedrooms and a spectacular view, a maid/cook and is supposed to be only 10 minutes from the local resturants

Sounds beautiful! Color me extremely jealous!

Have you seen any deals on park tickets? I would love to go to Epcot for the day on Friday but, I just can't just justify the one day ticket price.

I think well just hang by the pool and walk over to DTD for dinner too.

Have you looked into any excursions yet?

I haven't really seen any deals on park tickets anywhere. Undercover Tourist only offers a discount for 3 day or longer tickets, which we just don't need. I have a one day ticket from last year that I didn't use and hasn't expired, but I still need tickets for DH, my Mom and my two kids.

My MIL used to work at WDW so we always used to get in for free. Unfortunately for us, she had the audacity to retire of all things. Last year, a friend of hers who still works there was nice enough to use her free tickets to get us in. I don't feel comfortable asking for such a gift again, although if my MIL offers to arrange it, I won't turn her down!

I'm not sure about excursions yet. We don't want to spend a great deal of money on excursions this time. We did a dolphin encounter on our Western in 2010 and a stingray encounter in 2009. I'm thinking just a beach day on one island (although I have no idea which beach would be the best for this) and maybe just shopping and/or the butterfly farm on another stop.

 

[eyes4mickey]

Hi Everyone,
I have updated the FE list, we have over 20 on the list now
If you don't see your name on the list or if I made a mistake (or 2) please let me know
Pudo-Jeff, Missy, Catherine-19, Sarah- 8 Rooms 10078/10080
hortontrio- Michael, Carrie, Jessica- 8 Room 6690
Kaizen- Susanne, Jim, Alexa- 12
JKSwonder- Jane, Mike, Allison- 11, Michael- 6, Nana (Janet) Room 7102
i12go2wdw- Dan, Christine, Jordan- 20, Rebecca- 16, Mitchell- 14, Nicole- 9
i12go2wdw- Iain, Nonie, Kate-15, Eric-12 Room 2015
Suzannecat- Suzanne, Joe, David -14, Eliana -10 Rooms 8559 and 8563
Disneydonnam- Curt and Donna Room 6082
John21601- John, Heather, Megan- 7 room 6876
Chrisd12- Christina, Demitrios, Nicholas- 10, Sophia- 7 Room 8582
Trinity524- DF, DW, DH, DS Room 8092
Bytor01-Mary, Tim,, James-10, Moira-10 Room 10534
Allisonmilam7- DW, DH, DD-12, DD-8
Oldpatterns- Peter, Michelle, DD Sam-15, DS Erick-11 Room 8508
Minie meese- Elaine and David Room 9514
-Ruth, Matt and Ceanna-9 Room 9516
-Sondra and Nicole-8 Room 9510
Krisgils33-Kris, Greg, Casey Emma (Age 10 at cruise time) Cabin #6058
Cloie 13-- Jenn, Victor, Arianna - 8, Callea- 6 Room 6068
My4PhillyGirls- Joe, Michelle, Natalia- 20, Jenei- 16, Deyshia- 12 Rooms 7588, 7590
coconutsunshine- Jenny, Sean, DS Crewe- 3
Kymicheyfan717 -Kathy W. Room- 7192
gdulaney-Andy, Ginny and Diana Dulaney.... Stateroom # 6508

We are getting so excited, we talk about it all the time. We have strted making our dining reservations. We were sad that Hoop Dee Doo is undergoing refurbishment during our trip
Trying to decide what to do for our Fish Extender Exchange, it is always so fun to see what people do!!
Airfare is so high, almost twice as expensive as 2 years ago I hope it comes down soon.

Please add us to the FE exchange, cabin 7580
Me-Kim DH-Brian DS-Troy 15 and DS-Patrick 12

 

[krisgils33]

So, alot of folks have been talking about anniversaries. Congrats!!
My hubby's bday is August 25 and I'm not that creative. Any ideas on how to make the day special? We usually fly in that day and go right to the ship. We've been talking about flying in the night before, but I haven't made any travel plans as yet. Any ideas??? It's not a milestone birthday, but travel usually stresses me, so it would be nice to have something planned.

 

[JKSWonder]

So, alot of folks have been talking about anniversaries. Congrats!!
My hubby's bday is August 25 and I'm not that creative. Any ideas on how to make the day special? We usually fly in that day and go right to the ship. We've been talking about flying in the night before, but I haven't made any travel plans as yet. Any ideas??? It's not a milestone birthday, but travel usually stresses me, so it would be nice to have something planned.

Funny, I just asked you in a PM two seconds ago what you were doing pre-cruise and you just answered my question!

We are staying at WDW for two days prior, but before we decided to do that I had toyed with the idea of flying in just the night before and staying at one of the hotels near the Port like the Courtyard Inn. I know some people like to eat dinner the night before at restaurant in the area called FishLips? because you can sit outside and see the docked ships. That might be something to consider. Or maybe fly in the night before with a stay at the MCO Hyatt and a nice breakfast that morning?

 

[97greenhouse]

We are flying in Thursday night and staying in Orlando. Planning on staying poolside on Friday. Booked flights ($220)

 

[97greenhouse]

Oops..Staying at Hyatt and utilizing shuttle service that will allow us to shop and go to restaurants without renting a car.