August 7, 2004 Magic...who's going?

[eye R.N.]

We hope everything goes well. Tell her to hang in there this procedure should bring some relief.

 

[mom2missmous]

Hi all! Been a while, you might not even remember me (tee-hee)! Have been lurking for a while since I forgot my passwrd and grad school has been a lot more demanding then I thought it would be this year, but decided to take a chance on a password that made sense and..yippee! Hope everything works out for you , Shelly! August seems so far away, but it is so nice to think about especially when the weather is bad or things get too hectic! So here is wishing for some pixie dust to bring good luck and good health to everyone as we continue to count down the days!

 

[wendym]

Hi all
Shelley - I hope everything gets sorted out soon. We will both be praying for you.
Denise - how did Andy's job interview go?
We broke up Friday thankfully and mum and I went up to the Isle of Skye for a few days which was glorious. A few comments from colleagues that they didn't think that Disney had a theme park up there! However the peace and scenery certainly helped to destress me. Now to get started on my next essay.
Cannot wait to see you all - both old and new friends!
Happy Easter/Pasover to you all.
Wendy and Doreen

 

[luv2boys]

Jesse is being mean to me!!! He is back in St. Thomas working. He told me he woke up this morning, sat up in bed, looked out the window, and there she was - the Disney Magic!


Update on Nicholas - after about eight weeks, grown 2 inches. Really thinned out and losing that pudginess.

Amy

 

[sbennett]

Thanks everyone for your concerns and prayers.....I'm still hurting but they say it may take up to 10 days to get the full effect of the Cortisone. I wish it'd hurry up! I can stand up a little straighter but it still hurts to walk. So I'm staying stationary as much as possible....not great for trying to lose weight!
Kids are getting excited about the cruise, we're thinking of doing Universal (sorry) before the cruise, but we're still staying at Boardwalk, just to do something different. Anyone have any thoughts or comments? We have 3 nites reserved thru DVC at Boardwalk Villas. I figured I won't be doing too many rides this year!!!

 

[jeanneg]

Hi mom2missmous: so happy to hear from you again....please all you newbies, jump right in....we really need to get this party started!

Amy: so happy to hear about Nick's progress. 2 inches is a great accomplishment! About Jesse being in St. Thomas......that must feel weird.....being so close to the Magic, but not being able to get on.

Shelley: hang in there, girl.....hopefully the shots will take effect soon and you'll be back to your old self again. I've got a suggestion for doing Universal that might take your mind off the pain. When we cruised in 2001 we used all our DVC points for the cruise so we decided to stay at Universal since we hadn't been there in a while. We managed to get a really good package deal (I think it was 3 nights for the price of 2) at their Portofino Resort. The best part about it was that if you stay at one of their hotels you get these "front of the line" passes that were absolutely fantastic! They are like an unrestricted fast-pass because there was no limit to how often you used them. I'm not a big fan of Universal, but we decided that as long as they have that perk the only way to do that park is to wait 4 or 5 years and then stay several nights on property. I remember we did Spiderman 3 times in a row within about 30 minutes and kept passing by the same people who were waiting on line for well over an hour!

Wendy and Doreen: so glad you had a nice vacation!

Happy Easter/Passover to everyone!

P.S. I saw "Secret Window" yesterday......you all know how much I love Johnny Depp......I got such a chuckle seeing him in BRACES! Fortunately mine are now gone so Jen can't tease me anymore!

 

[gometros]

Shelley - so sorry to hear about the herniated discs. Hope that you'll start feeling better soon.

I've had a few exciting weeks - some good, some bad. I had to fly down to Boca Raton this past weekend, since my dad was admitted to the ICU with a severe astham attack. This was the second time in two weeks. He had been in for a week and was released a week ago Friday. He never fully recovered and my mom took him back last Wednesday. They had to intubate him and it looked pretty bad for a while. I flew down Friday morning and came back Sunday night. They were supposed to have come up north for Passover, so my mom hadn't expected to need anything down there. He's being moved out of ICU today, but he's got a long road to recovery and I doubt that they'll be joining us on the cruise

On a positive note, my contract at Exult ended on Friday and I've already landed another contract with Medco here in Montvale (about 10 minutes from my house). I've been dying to get into the pharmaceutical industry, because there are so many up here, but usually you need pharma experience, so I'm glad I finally got my foot in the door. So, I get a little break before starting on the 19th.

You all have a Happy Easter and lets keep counting down those days until the cruise.

 

[jeanneg]

Hi Sandy:
Sorry to hear about your dad......I hope things are looking up for him. I know how difficult it can be when aging parents live so far away.
Congratulations on your new contract. Exactly what will you be doing for the pharm. company? I remember Montvale very well.....sat through many a swim meet at their swim club!

 

[wendym]

Amy - what wonderful news about Nicholas - we both send him our love.
Sandy - I hope your dad continues to do better and good luck with the new contract.
Shelley - I hope the pain is going. I can echo what Jeanne says about the Universal hotels. We are staying 2 nights at the Hard Rock in October - mum loves it there! I am the one that finds it too loud. The front of the line passes are amazing.
Just away to prepare a meal for friends so the house is filled with lovely smells!
Love to all.
Wendy

 

[gometros]

Testing their POS (point of sales) system. It will be nice to go to an office and interact with people again

 

[sbennett]

Hi everyone,
I contacted Ron Jon resort and was told that a studio for Aug. 6th is $130. Denise, is the rate of $98 for a studio for more than one night?
Who else is staying at Ron Jon? We have a reservation at the Radisson but may change not sure yet.
Does anyone know if the menus on the cruise will be changing before we cruise? Jay and I want to do Palo's one night and are trying to figure out when....or is there something already in the works for a group dining experience at Palo's? ....it's been so long since I thought about it. Have nothing else to do nowadays but think about how much fun we will have in August!! Getting "cabin fever" can't stand not being able to do anything!!

 

[jeanneg]

Hi Shelley,
Glad to have you back. $130 is the correct rate for the studio at Ron Jon. What you need.....and I will try to find it.......is the correct coupon code from FL magazine which gives you a 25%discount. ($98 is that rate with the discount applied.) We are already booked for the evenings of 8/5 and 8/6 but we're in a 1-Bedroom unit. I belive the studios only sleep 4 and we'll be 5 this time. With the discount our room comes to $142.50 per night plus room tax which brings it to $156.75 ($195 base rate w/o discount). We decided this was actually cheaper than staying at the Radisson where we would have to book 2 separate rooms. We're not doing the parks this time as we have had several mini-Disney vacations this year. We'll be driving down again and I think staying at the Ron Jon will be a nice way to unwind before the cruise. I know Wendy and Sandy plan to stay elsewhere but we'll have a car so we can possibly arrange to meet somewhere for dinner if anyone would like. When it comes time to get to the port, I predict we'll probably bite the bullet again and park in their lot. I know $70 would buy a ton of conch coolers but it's so darn convenient.
Some thoughts about Palo.....I know we briefly talked about a group dinner, but I'm not 100% sure we'll be participating in that.
Both Jenni and Jason are dying to go there and after the disappointment we experienced last time with Jason's birthday still several days away, we absolutely promised them that we'd do this time around. For me, Palo is so special, that doing it more than once may make it somewhat less so. Plus, it truly is an awful lot of food to eat twice in a week and now that the cost has gone up to $10/person (and we always add more) it's going to cost us a pretty penny. I'm very easy to please foodwise and can always find lots of things on the regular dining menu that appeal to me....not to mention the fact that we usually love our regular servers. So considering all that, I think we'll most likely only do dinner there one night. Again, I have no interest in the champagne buffet. I was not overly impressed with the tea itself, however, John and I had such a nice time socializing with everyone at that event, I would be happy to do it again and coordinate it for us as the time gets closer. Another group of cruisers had the great idea of meeting in Parrot Cay for lunch on the sea-day they have the buffet there. They plan to give the wait staff a heads up the day before so they might be able to put together several larger tables to accommodate the size of the group. This is something we might consider doing.

I'll try to find the Ron Jon code and report back!

 

[wendym]

We're staying at the Oceanside Inn again - hey it's free and we are typical Aberdonians!! We should still have the hire car and would be delighted to meet up. Our plan would be to leave our timeshare early and we would be in Cocoa Beach about midday on the friday.
Jeanne, you certainly have to do Palos as a family to make up for the disappointment of last year. Mum and I happy to do anything.
Wendy

 

[eye R.N.]

Shelly, glad you are feeling better.

Sandy, hope your dad is doing better. Those quick trip to Fla can be exhausting.

Jeanne is right about ron jon's I know that I used a coupon code but for the life of me I can't remember what it was. We are doing the same thing driving down and staying there the 5th and 6th. As for transportation, Andy will drop us off and than get a cab back from ron jon's. I'm glad I booked the one bedroom right now it looks like a family vacation.

I think we are doing Palo with Chelsea this year. I too think one night is enough.

I will be happy to do the ressie thing for the Champange brunch and open it up to everyone 18 and up (but no alcohol unless your 21) It gives me a great excuse to get to the port early.

I tried moving our Cat 8 & 11 to two Cat 9's but at this point they wouldn't even guarantee they would be on the same floor let alone close to each other.

 

[gometros]

I agree that for Palo one night is enough, but that group lunch in PArrot Cay sounds like a great idea. Especially considering you guys will all be on the late seating and I can't move Judy from the early seating.

The trip is getting really ocmplicated for us. Odds are that becuase of the recent events with my dad, my folks will not be joining us, which means if all three of my kids go, we have a room problem. Anybody have an extra bed?

Adding to that is the fact that Elana won a trip to Israel which will be in AUgust, but we don't know the dates yet. In our town, we twi with six towns from six different countries and one of them is Beit Shemesh in Israel. We (I'm the current past chair of the committee that runs it) select five or six kids to go based on an essay competition and foot all the expenses. Sara went on this trip in AUgust 2000 and now it's Elana's turn. If the two trips coincide, I'm trying to convince Elana that the Israel trip is a once in a lifetime opportunity. If they overlap, that could cause problems. NOthing is ever easy.

 

[wendym]

Group lunch at Parrot Cay sounds great and thanks Jeanne and Denise for offering to organise the tea and brunch again!
Elana would love the trip to Israel - I still have many found memories of my two trips there.
Wendy

 

[jeanneg]

Congratulations to Elana for winning the trip to Israel. I agree that it's more of a lifetime opportunity than DCL which she has already done and will probably do again, but it's SO HARD to willingly give up a cruise on the Magic! Hopefully, there will be no conflict and she can do both!

Shelley: I did some research and came up with this: I used coupon code #102 which was (I believe) from Florida Magazine. Denise claimed she used #300 and I don't know what that one refers to. Since it was awhile back, it's possible both have expired. My suggestion would be to go to the main cruise board and start a thread asking if anyone has a current discount code.
Generally, other DISers are very good about responding quickly.
Hope you're feeling better......

 

[MBFergie]

Hi all,

I haven't had time to read thru all the messages yet, but think we may be joining you all. Have to decide if it's too close to start of school..august 16 for my 2 kids.

Are there any 13y/o girls going? How about any boys 8 y/o. My DD has a blast last year since she met abunch of girls before hand thru the boards. Hope she can again this year!!

Hope to be cruisin' with ya'll.

Marie

 

[wendym]

Marie
Welcome! We don't have any children - just me (34) and my Mum (70) but others do. eyeRN's (Denise) daughter may be almost 13 - Hope I apologise but I cannot remember how old you are! Sure others will be able to help.
Wendy

 

[jeanneg]

Welcome Marie,
Don't kid yourself....Wendy's mum is probably the biggest kid of all!
Hope you can join us. I know how it is with the school situation. I believe we begin August 9th this year in Raleigh, which seems totally insane to me. Mine will all be in college so they start a little later. We just got word that Jen is supposed to report to Lehigh in PA on Thursday 8/12......which is a problem. She is an RA and needs to do some training and set-up work before all the freshmen arrive the following weekend. I had to fax up the cruise confirmation to verify that she'd be away. They will excuse her provided she is there first thing Monday morning. That means we'll make a hasty departure from the ship on Saturday, drive straight home and let her take off alone Sunday morning. As long as she gets her little Honda loaded with all her stuff before we leave, it should be do-able. By comparision, living in FL and starting school on the 16th should seem like a piece of cake......just make sure you do all the back-to-school shopping ahead of time!