August 6, 2005 Mexican Riviera..Who's In?

[jilljill]

Hi Stace, were you hoping for this T.O.P.?!?

 

[justmestace]

Hi Guys...Gals!

No car talk....it will jinx me!

DCA is always less crowded than DL...until it's time for the Electric Light Parade.
Soarin' is the BEST! A definite 1st thing Fast Pass.

I really do think that next summer will be very crowded, though.
We're just going to have to know it and expect it.

If I were a WDW person, doing DL for the first time, I would do the things that WDW doesn't have first. Indiana Jones, Matterhorn, and even Small World....it's so much nicer than the MK's.
And DCA is alot like MGM....but it has it's own personality. DH & I really like DCA, almost better than DL....but we're old!

It is very cool that they are so close, you can go back and forth several times a day.....just a walk across a courtyard. And you'll step on my "brick".

How can I be getting so excited about this already??? I still can't believe that I will hop on a plane and an hour later, I could be on my way to the Magic! I would be in BIG trouble if I lived on the east coast, and it was that close to DCL. BIG trouble.

But you know what? I love Disneyland. Especially now that they have DCA and DTD. I could just sit on a bench at DTD at night and watch the people go by. It seems more intimate than WDW.

Okay, jilljill....don't give me grief for that! I love WDW too!

I'm tired and going to bed before I start a fight!

Good night all!
Stacey

 

[jilljill]

Originally posted by justmestace
Okay, jilljill....don't give me grief for that! I love WDW too!
Stacey

No grief from me. I loved the fact that we could walk to both parks, both hotels and DTD all within 15 minutes.
I'm just glad that the next time we go to D'land we aren't doing a whirlwind tour of 2 parks in less than 8 hours. Yes we did that last summer. We hit DTD the evening before, but only to grab a bite to eat and hit The WOD quickly to pick up a couple of things that we couldn't get at the CM store - we were very tired .

 

[Catnip0113]

I am getting excited too! Now, is Soaring that ride that is like a hang glider? I didn't know that is coming to WDW, which park? I had to think a minute to figure out what DTD was, but my guess is Downtown Disney. What is TOT? I am very DL illiterate I see, I am so glad we are going because how could I consider myself a Disney person without checking out the left coast one? I don't know if I'll make it to Paris' park, where else are they?

Cathy

 

[jilljill]

Originally posted by Catnip0113
I am getting excited too! Now, is Soaring that ride that is like a hang glider? I didn't know that is coming to WDW, which park? I had to think a minute to figure out what DTD was, but my guess is Downtown Disney. What is TOT? I am very DL illiterate I see, I am so glad we are going because how could I consider myself a Disney person without checking out the left coast one? I don't know if I'll make it to Paris' park, where else are they?

Cathy

Soarin' is the hang gliding- like ride. It is being built at the Land pavillion at Epcot. They took out the Food Rocks show last year to make way for the new building that will house Soarin'.
DTD is Downtown Disney, TOT is Tower of Terror.
There are also 2 parks in Tokyo; Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Sea. They are building Hong Kong D'land as we speak, it should be open late 2005 or early 2006. I have a friend that is working on that project. He also worked on TOT at D'land and on the Wonder and the Magic. It is so cool to hear him talk about what he worked on for the ships. Now the next time I go I will have to check out his stuff more carefully.

Any other questions just ask

 

[justmestace]

Just a quick hello today...I have been on the phone with various things all morning and have not achieved much. I feel guilty.


My DD told me she thought it was stupid to put Soarin' Over California at WDW.....thinks it should be Soarin' Over Florida.
But I reminded her that the ride is about all of the different aspects of California.....they have it all...ocean, forests, rivers, etc......"Oooohhhh......" she said. Duh.

I was afraid of it at first (heights) but Jay & I could do it over and over, all day long. The key is to get in the front row. Otherwise, you can see the people's feet hanging down above you. I've heard they are going to make the one at Epcot different, to avoid that.

Off to make use of my somewhat wasted day!

TTYL,
Stacey

 

[Catnip0113]

I saw a teenager thread for the Christmas cruise, we should have our kids start one for this cruise when they think it is close enough...

Thanks for the info on the other parks of the world. How do you guys know so much? Jilljill, did you say you were a Castmember? How many employees do they have? Are they all called castmembers even if they aren't associated with theme parks?

Cathy

 

[Itinkso]

Besides having a teen thread, do all of you usually make magnetic door signs?

 

[justmestace]

Cathy.....all of the employees are called CM's. It's all part of the Disney "show". Even official letters from Disney are done up in a different way than any other company that I've gotten letters from. It's cute, but kind of freaky, too.

How do we know so much? These boards, the Disneyland board, and making it my life's mission to travel and study different Disney cultures! Nah....we have gone to DL a lot, and I really do look around in all the nooks and crannies, and ask the CM's a lot of stupid questions. I just have a natural curiousity that has to be satisfied.

My kids aren't on the teen thread. They don't get on the computer very often. Maybe they will by the time we get closer.

I have magnets made for the Xmas cruise. Both for the outside of the door, and the inside. I had made some for my oldest daughter's door when they got married, too. They can be fun. I did them for the Xmas cruise because of the holiday...they're decorations. I don't know if I'll do them for this cruise. I'm not too sure I'm going to want to advertise which room is ours, with a teenage daughter in it!

Well...off to bed. I didn't do much of anything today, but I have a full day tomorrow.

Have a good night, and a great day tomorrow!

Stacey

 

[jilljill]

Originally posted by Catnip0113
Thanks for the info on the other parks of the world. How do you guys know so much? Jilljill, did you say you were a Castmember? How many employees do they have? Are they all called castmembers even if they aren't associated with theme parks?

Cathy

Cathy, as Stacey mentioned all Disney employees are cast members regardless of where they work. The only exception would be the ones who work for DCL on the ships and they are called crew members. Yes I am a cast member, but only until 10/1, that is when my resignation will be effective. I won't go into all the detail here. It has been a nice run and I have enjoyed it for the last 8½ years, but I have too many changes going on in my life right now and now was the right time to leave.
As for my knowledge of Disney, like I tell people, I am full of useless Disney knowledge. We go the WDW a lot and I read a lot of information about the company and we own stock. I also collect a lot of Disney things, new and old. Plus, a lot of my friends are cast members or former cast members with the same thirst for 'useless Disney knowledge' as I call it.
I don't know how many CM's there are with the company in total, it may be around 125,000. Then I believe there are close to 45,000 CM's employed at WDW alone.
Aren't you scared you asked?!?

 

[Catnip0113]

Wow, we have some Disney stock too, but I never seem to have time to read the information.

Thanks for the cast member information. I will have to try the DL boards too.

I never heard of the magnets on the door (other than here in some posts). I never saw any on our cruise, but then again we didn't have to go too far down any cabin hallways. We were just in from the aft elevators.

 

[SchultzFamily]

Hi Everyone! It seems like I haven't been here lately but I've been reading but not posting. I went to the dentist the other day and my mouth has been sore so I've been whiney! My dentist was telling me he gets offers all of the time to sign on to be "ships dentist" for various cruise lines. He said you have to sign on for 6 months, no pay but pretty limited office hours and all of the rest of your time is yours with free room and board. I was ready to sign on but I'm not a dentist, maybe I could sign on as ships nurse when the kids are on their own!
Vickie

 

[justmestace]

I'll sign on to be Cruise Director Julie! She never seemed nearly as busy as the real cruise directors!

Just got home from the first night out with a friend that I can remember in a long time.
We went to a Gold Canyon Candle party. They have THE BEST candles. They actually smell when they burn...all the way to the bottom. And they have about 100 scents. I couldn't live without them.
Can't take candles on the ship, so I'm taking some of their car air fresheners to hang in the room.

Pretty tired tonight....glad it's Friday tomorrow.

Sorry about going to the dentist, Vickie.....I have to go too. Next week is my 100% check up week. Teeth, eyes, GYN, Mammo....
Might as well get them all over with at once.

Off to bed...Good night all!

Stacey

 

[Catnip0113]

Originally posted by SchultzFamily
My dentist was telling me he gets offers all of the time to sign on to be "ships dentist" for various cruise lines. He said you have to sign on for 6 months, no pay but pretty limited office hours and all of the rest of your time is yours with free room and board. I was ready to sign on but I'm not a dentist, maybe I could sign on as ships nurse when the kids are on their own!
Vickie

Maybe I can be ship's programmer if they have a mainframe COBOL system... Does the dentist have to stay in the crew quarters and bunk with someone? I need a verandah...

 

[justmestace]

Originally posted by Catnip0113
Maybe I can be ship's programmer if they have a mainframe COBOL system... Does the dentist have to stay in the crew quarters and bunk with someone? I need a verandah...

That's probably the one thing that would stop me from wanting to work on a cruise ship. No verandah. Well, that and the fact that I would have to WORK!

I have a list of little projects I want to do tomorrow. Does anyone want to take any bets on how much of it I'll get done?

DH will be at our cabin, and I'll have a bunch of girls here finishing a project for their Film & Video class. Oh boy! Maybe I should go to the cabin, and leave DH here!

And I swear, I'm taking Jordan to the mall Sunday to try to get some clothes for the Christmas cruise, before the sales are over and they put all the summer clothes away! Just haven't been able to get there. Think I'll dump Jared with my oldest!

Off to bed.....take care all.

Oh, and Cathy....sure wish I knew what a mainframe COBOL system was!

Stacey

 

[justmestace]

T.O.P.!!!

Wow....first one in a long time!

 

[jilljill]

I knew I should have checked over here sooner. Oh well, Stace deserves a T.O.P. every once in a blue moon.
Are you trying for the mean mom award again?!? This just doesn't sound very good: "Think I'll dump Jared with my oldest!" You know I'm only kidding .
I really should get to bed now. Nite, nite

 

[justmestace]

I'll slow the car down before making him jump out!!

I can't stand taking him to the mall anymore. He only wants to go into the video game stores, complains if we look at "girl stuff" even though he was TOLD that was why we were going....
Trouble is, I do need him to try on new dress pants. At the rate he's growing, that has to wait until the day before the cruise!

I'll just take them separately. OR......maybe I can talk oldest DD into taking Jared to buy pants! Hey...what a brilliant idea!
I knew there was a reason I had that older child!!!

The worst part is that I'll have to go through all of this again for "our" cruise. Why do kids have to grow? I take that back...if they didn't grow, they'd never leave!

I DO sound like a terrible Mom, don't I? I'm really not. It just feels like I've been doing this forever. 23 solid years, and since Jared's only 11, I figure I have at least 7 more to go....but if you count college, with them coming home with their laundry & all....
I'll be too old to enjoy "Empty Nest Syndrome".......

Good grief....I just figured out, that's 30 years of raising kids.

Enough whining....chores to do....

Happy Saturday Everyone!!

 

[SchultzFamily]

Stacey,
For both our cruise and back to school this year I took the kids shopping separely. It was so much better! No whining, just got what we needed and left. That is my new way to shop!
Vickie

 

[jilljill]

Originally posted by justmestace
I DO sound like a terrible Mom, don't I? I'm really not. It just feels like I've been doing this forever. 23 solid years, and since Jared's only 11, I figure I have at least 7 more to go....but if you count college, with them coming home with their laundry & all....
I'll be too old to enjoy "Empty Nest Syndrome".......

Good grief....I just figured out, that's 30 years of raising kids.

Now if you are going to count the college years, using east coast math, that would be a minimum of 34 years of raising kids. I'm giving him the benefit that he will only go to college for 4 years, if he goes longer..... OK, we won't count any higher.
You'll either be too old to enjoy "Empty Nest Syndrome" or too senile to know it's happening!!! Yes, I had to go there on that one . What are friends for?!?

I'm in a strange mood because today was my last Saturday to work . Now I can plan weekends and have a life once again .