Dec 5, 2009 -- now traveling to Tortola

[Hanover]

Tower-I've noticed the size of the beach crowd really depends on the time of year and weather. We've noticed it much more crowded in the summer months than winter months. It looks like that picture was taken right at the start of the family beach near the raft/snorkel rentals and that area can get crowded. There's plenty of room for everyone though.

We will have been on the Wonder or Magic the 1st week of December 4 years in a row and each year the weather has varied. In 2006, it was nice out and the water was a bit cool. In 2007 it was overcast and raining when we docked (they gave us free Disney ponchos) and it cleared up with in the 1st hour. The water was pretty chilly. It didn't stop people from going in and once you were in a couple minutes, you got used to it. Last year we could't dock the first day because the winds were too strong and the currents too strong. The next day we docked and it was gorgeous and the water felt much warmer than in 2007. We were there in February 2009 and it was freezing and the water was freezing. I took this picture and my boys were the only ones in the family beach even near the water:

 

[ajstaud]

We are dvc members and are loving it! Talked my parents into buying more points at AKL. We will be staying there prior to the cruise!

 

[Tower]

I love the December cruises! Christmas and Disney are my favorite things!

Welcome AJ!

Where are you from?

Great to have you aboard!

 

[ajstaud]

We have typically taken our cruises in May and December. Early May we have had cold weather but December has always been great. As for the crowd, people tend to stop at the first sight of the beach, just walk down a little bit more and it's less congested.

 

[ajstaud]

I am from Colorado, where we are currently getting light snow!

 

[ajstaud]

Have to admit that I have been reading the Dis boards for years. Guess I was just lurking around. It's always interesting the kind of info you can learn from here.

 

[Hanover]

Ajstaud--You'll love AKL

Tower--here's a photo from August of 2008 I can't find any in photobucket from last December and I've reached my "storage limit" on it. I'll see if I can find one in another one of my upload accounts.

 

[ajstaud]

Just at WDW, was able to attend the first Halloween party of the season! Fun times!/Users/Amanda/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2009/Roll 41/DSCN1618.JPG

 

[ajstaud]

Did you find that buses run slow at AKL. We were a bit hesitant due to it being the furthest resort out and not as close to the other theme parks, but when we toured the models we fell in love.

How do you post pictures?

 

[Hanover]

Did you find that buses run slow at AKL. We were a bit hesitant due to it being the furthest resort out and not as close to the other theme parks, but when we toured the models we fell in love.

How do you post pictures?

I have only taken Disney transportation when just DS8 and I go just the 2 of us for Star Wars weekends. When ds12 and dh come along we get a rental car. I don't trust myself enough to not get lost even with a GPS. Any how, we were at Kidani in June and I found the busses to be great--much better than when we've stayed at Pop Century or any of the moderate resorts. I just thought when we stayed at the other resorts, the busses seemed to take longer and were more crowded. We were first to get on the bus (before Jambo House) and first to get off the bus from the parks.

We'll be at MNSSHP on Halloween night and can't wait! We fly down 3 weeks tomorrow. We have a haunted hay ride scheduled that night at Ft. Wilderness after dinner at Chef Mickeys and hope to see Wishes while on the ride. We are staying in Kidani for 2 nights and trying out Bay Lake Towers the third/final night.

To post pictures, you have to first upload them to a site like photobucket and then copy and paste the IMG code.

 

[NHdisneylover]

While I am new to DCL, we have cruised 5 or more times. I do expect that first day to be pretty busy though.

I am happy to design the nametag (and can provide it electronically to everyone in advance - great idea - or print them if needed), order the lanyards, and bring it all to our first meeting. How important is it for me to be available at the terminal? We are planning to leave BLT by 10am and stop for a bottled water purchase, but I don't know how long it takes to get to the terminal.

I am curious how much these will end up costing? I guess if I do all the color printing, the total cost will be higher, but the lanyards themselves seem pretty cheap, right? Just trying to get a ballpark idea to figure out how many people will need to chip in.

I'd love to have the recommended lanyard supplier info - just PM me or post it here. And if Erik already has a template for the design that is the right size, etc., send that my way too. Can you send attachments in PM? If not, let me know and I can give you my e-mail address.

Thanks so much for your help!

--Amy

I have many things i want to respond to after German calss--was just glancing through before running the kdis to school. I only have time to respond to this now. AMy I did PM you the lin to teh website--I am not sure why you did not get it. There are lots of good sights, but www.kennyproducts.com is one we have had very good results with. The fellow DISser who told us about them said he tried otehr sights first and this was the first one whos lanyards and plastic holders tended to last for a full cruise (for the same price). More later. . .

 

[carmie3377]

I am from Colorado, where we are currently getting light snow!

Wow!!! We've been having highs in the 90s with heat indexes 100+ this last week! Today is supposed to be cool - a high of only 80 Oh, but just looked and it's already 83 with heat index of 89. We have some storms coming in soon and hopefully that will cool things off. It's been so muggy this last week too.

We visited Colorado this summer and feel in love with it. We'll have the opportunity to relocate in 2012 and DH really hopes Colorado will work out for us.

 

[amyngary]

Sorry Hadley - I did get your PM. I just didn't realize I had a new PM (did I mention that I'm a newbie ).

I will watch the site and PM you with questions. Thanks!

 

[rowst3]

My DD is 6 years old and was wondering if anyone's kids participated in the different activities they have in the Oceaneer Club. Our last cruise was 2 years ago when she was 4 and pretty much all she did was run around in there. I found Personal Navigators that someone scanned in from this cruise in February and was hoping she would do some of the stuff like Flubber, etc. Any suggestions?

Thanks! Rosemary

 

[rowst3]

Its been two years since our last cruise and was wondering if anyone new of any changes made to the Magic. All I've heard was new tvs and some cosmetic changes. I was hoping they would have updated the shows or added the Toy Story one. Our first cruise was in November 2004 and I think the shows were the same then too.

 

[rowst3]

I read somewhere that Disney changed the way they do photos and started using the PhotoPass they have in the parks. Does anyone know if do any special printing, such as Christmas cards? I can't remember ever seeing it in the past. I'm hoping to kill two birds with one stone this year. We are hoping to use a picture from Formal night as our Christmas card. Sending them from Castaway Cay would be an added bonus, and probably expensive too :-(

 

[hurley03]

Hi everyone,
I hope you all are doing well. it is supposed to snow this weekend here in Wisconsin! crazy!

I would like to chip in for the lanyards also. I just need to know approximately how much?

I have never seen the beach that crowded, but we go down a bit from the family beach.

we are also excited to see the ship all Christmassy and it will be fun to
do the Secret Mickey thing (FE). these gifts are just little things, right?

We are looking forward to meeting in Preludes at 3pm as well.
So are you all wearing jammies to breakfast? that's funny.

Have a good day everyone!

 

[carmie3377]

I read somewhere that Disney changed the way they do photos and started using the PhotoPass they have in the parks. Does anyone know if do any special printing, such as Christmas cards? I can't remember ever seeing it in the past. I'm hoping to kill two birds with one stone this year. We are hoping to use a picture from Formal night as our Christmas card. Sending them from Castaway Cay would be an added bonus, and probably expensive too :-(

It is similar to photopass, but I think it's a different company. HEre is a link to thread discussing the CD on the cruises http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2215827. As you will soon see, it is quite a bit more expensive than the CD in the parks.

Also, they do Christmas cards too. You don't have to purchase the CD to order the cards but you will have to order at least one print of the photo you want on your cards. Here is a link to a thread about the cards http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2223317&highlight=shutters+christmas+cards

I considered mailing them from Castaway Cay too but I've read that it can take weeks to receive things mailed from there. If we do the cards from Shutters, I will just mail them from Port Canaveral. We may just just use a print that we take and have the cards processed at Walgreens or CVS as soon as we return.

 

[mommyof3princesses]

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[rowst3]

Has anyone else received a letter from DCL regarding the port change? I only found out earlier this week when I logged into the Web site to complete the online check-in. We booked through DVC and according to them we were going to St. Croix. I find it odd that we haven't received any formal notification since according to the DCL person I spoke with, the changed was made about a month ago.

Thanks! Rosemary