December 12 - 19, 2009 Western Magic

[pamrob]

Has anyone been to any of the Disney outlet stores in the Orlando area? I have never visited them but thought I might next week. Would love to hear other's experiences and recommendations.

 

[poohfriend]

just called. movies to be shown on our cruise

race to witch mountain
hannah montana movie
earth
up in 3d
the proposal
gforce
surrogate
toy story 1 and 2 in 3d
a Christmas carrol in 3d
old dogs
princess and the frog

 

[Scooby3x1y]

just called. movies to be shown on our cruise

race to witch mountain
hannah montana movie
earth
up in 3d
the proposal
gforce
surrogate
toy story 1 and 2 in 3d
a Christmas carrol in 3d
old dogs
princess and the frog

Bummer.... We saw Old Dogs, it was cute, but just don't expect a hysterically funny movie. I love Robin Williams and John Travolta, but geared towards kids. By any means, not another Wild Hogs. This seemed along the lines of the movie College Road Trip, cute, very Disney wholesome, a feel good movie. 2 or 3 swear words, but other than that, clean.

I was hoping for more new movies. I do want to see Christmas Carol and Princess.

 

[pamrob]

just called. movies to be shown on our cruise

race to witch mountain
hannah montana movie
earth
up in 3d
the proposal
gforce
surrogate
toy story 1 and 2 in 3d
a Christmas carrol in 3d
old dogs
princess and the frog

We haven't seen the last three so hopefully we can catch them while onboard. I think my girls may have seen Gforce, I haven't.

 

[HallsofVA]

Is anyone mailing their fish extender gifts ahead of time? I was working on mine this weekend and was thinking how nice it would be to not to have to worry about finding room for them in the luggage for the flight.

I was debating about sending them early via the process for shipping stuff to you on the ship. Or I was thinking about sending them to my friend in Tampa who will be joining us on the ship, and seeing if she could bring it along for us.

 

[Orlando36]

I wanted to correct my earlier post. I just called the cruise line and they told me you can be dropped off inside the terminal by someone else who is not sailing. Someone already corrected it, but I wanted to confirm.

Also, I couldn't find luggage limitations on the site, so I asked about that. The rules are up to 2 suitcases and one carryon per person eek. We will NOT be bringing that much! There is no weight restriction or size restriction on suitcases. The carryons cannot be larger than 22" x 14" x 9". Trying to get my FEs packed!

I LOVE the pop-up hamper idea!

Thanks for the info on the pillowcases. Suddenly, GoBisons earlier purchase makes a lot more sense!

 

[poohbear926]

Theres Alot of stuff going on here so id have to go by myself so thats the problems To go by myself or not to go at all. i cant decide i know i really wanna go and if i dont ill be pissed but ive never gone anywhere by myself so im having a little fear of doing that but ive gone away enough times that its not like i dont know what to do. i have mixed feelings .What do you guys think i should do?

 

[bevtoy]

Theres Alot of stuff going on here so id have to go by myself so thats the problems To go by myself or not to go at all. i cant decide i know i really wanna go and if i dont ill be pissed but ive never gone anywhere by myself so im having a little fear of doing that but ive gone away enough times that its not like i dont know what to do. i have mixed feelings .What do you guys think i should do?

How old are you, are you single? For instance if you are in the college age bracket there are going to be young single college aged on this trip. So you can easily find others to hang out with, thats a plus.

 

[Scooby3x1y]

FaithfullyEeyore I think is a single traveler, maybe she can give you some insight that we cannot.

Here's my 2 cents. If you really want to go, go. If you have a hard time eating alone (not knowing anyone, or trying to introduce yourself to others), maybe you should rethink. Is there any friends you can call to replace the missing party? Maybe if you even supplement their fare a little they can go.

I think it totally depends on what you think you'll do while gone. Will it be too solitary? I know a lot of people travel alone and really enjoy it. If you're social and have no problem introducing yourself and making friends, you could have a blast.

Really it's hard to give you very good advice not knowing your personality.

 

[poohbear926]

How old are you, are you single? For instance if you are in the college age bracket there are going to be young single college aged on this trip. So you can easily find others to hang out with, thats a plus.

im 22. and yeah im single.

 

[Orlando36]

I'm sorry to pepper you guys with all these small questions; I am trying to find the answers on the main boards first, no luck.

Sand toys? To bring or not to bring? My kids LOVE to play in the sand. I am currently thinking I will bring one set of nesting cups to make small towers, two shovels, one watering can, and one frisbee. This takes up a very modest amount of space, and I know my kids will get some use out of them. But, are there any sand toys at the CC beach? What about Paradise Beach in Cozumel? Will we use these, or is this silly?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[poohbear926]

FaithfullyEeyore I think is a single traveler, maybe she can give you some insight that we cannot.

Here's my 2 cents. If you really want to go, go. If you have a hard time eating alone (not knowing anyone, or trying to introduce yourself to others), maybe you should rethink. Is there any friends you can call to replace the missing party? Maybe if you even supplement their fare a little they can go.

I think it totally depends on what you think you'll do while gone. Will it be too solitary? I know a lot of people travel alone and really enjoy it. If you're social and have no problem introducing yourself and making friends, you could have a blast.

Really it's hard to give you very good advice not knowing your personality.

I know i have a hard time introducing myself to others since i have social anxiety but i do know alot of people who work on the ship. as far as eating i dont know how well that will go over for me. Ive asked all the people i can think of my "friends" are horrible thats why i use the " " i even offered to pay for one and her mom started complaining because she had to drive her to the airport.... Its funny because when im on disney i can be myself and out going. i was thinking since i would be by myself it would be more for me time rest and relax..

 

[Scooby3x1y]

I know i have a hard time introducing myself to others since i have social anxiety but i do know alot of people who work on the ship. as far as eating i dont know how well that will go over for me. Ive asked all the people i can think of my "friends" are horrible thats why i use the " " i even offered to pay for one and her mom started complaining because she had to drive her to the airport.... Its funny because when im on disney i can be myself and out going. i was thinking since i would be by myself it would be more for me time rest and relax..

If it is about resting and relaxing, I think you could have a great time. Having a lot of friends with SA, this might be a good time to push/extend your boundries. There are several girls going about your age. I know KCashner has a dd, Bevtoy has a dd, and seems like there is one other girl your age. I guess I should say woman, but since I'm a lot older , and still refer to my friends and I as girls.

Will your friends on board be able to do stuff with you if they're working? Or will they have enough time off to hang out with you?

 

[bevtoy]

When you sail alone don't you ahve to pay a premium for your cabin? They charge more because there is no 2nd person. If you add a 2nd person it only costs 542 dollars more for our cruise GTY (Just checked the price)

FaithfullyEeyore I think is a single traveler, maybe she can give you some insight that we cannot.

Here's my 2 cents. If you really want to go, go. If you have a hard time eating alone (not knowing anyone, or trying to introduce yourself to others), maybe you should rethink. Is there any friends you can call to replace the missing party? Maybe if you even supplement their fare a little they can go.

I think it totally depends on what you think you'll do while gone. Will it be too solitary? I know a lot of people travel alone and really enjoy it. If you're social and have no problem introducing yourself and making friends, you could have a blast.

Really it's hard to give you very good advice not knowing your personality.

 

[poohbear926]

If it is about resting and relaxing, I think you could have a great time. Having a lot of friends with SA, this might be a good time to push/extend your boundries. There are several girls going about your age. I know KCashner has a dd, Bevtoy has a dd, and seems like there is one other girl your age. I guess I should say woman, but since I'm a lot older , and still refer to my friends and I as girls.

Will your friends on board be able to do stuff with you if they're working? Or will they have enough time off to hang out with you?

yeah its always nice resting and relaxing on disney. especially since cruise earlier this month was all business and OMG was the worst cruise ive ever been on i came home saying i need a real cruise now haha which would be disney... Yeah i think so. It could end up being a good thing going by myself and now having anybody holding me back from doing things either. Ok.

Thanks. Definitely making me think more of going by myself hehe

And no :-( the people i know on the ship wont have time to do anything with me theyll be working alot

 

[HallsofVA]

I'm sorry to pepper you guys with all these small questions; I am trying to find the answers on the main boards first, no luck.

Sand toys? To bring or not to bring? My kids LOVE to play in the sand. I am currently thinking I will bring one set of nesting cups to make small towers, two shovels, one watering can, and one frisbee. This takes up a very modest amount of space, and I know my kids will get some use out of them. But, are there any sand toys at the CC beach? What about Paradise Beach in Cozumel? Will we use these, or is this silly?

Thanks in advance!!!

We use the beach toys on each beach stop. We don't bother packing and bring sand toys with us (especially since we're flying). But if you're local to the area, it may make sense to bring an inexpensive set of toys for your kids.

What we've always done is I get a gift basket from Shirley at A Perfect Gift and I make sure she includes a sand bucket and shovel for each kids, and some misc. sand molds. We use it on our beach excursions and at Castaway Cay, and then leave them behind that last day. By combining the beach toys with the gift basket, we get extra snacks and juices for the kids plus the toys, killing 2 birds with one stone.

There are sand toys available for purchase at Castaway Cay if that's the only beach day you're doing. Also I've heard that you can borrow beach toys from Scuttle's Cove on CC (since that's where so many people leave their beach toys behind.) We've never done that, but may look into doing that on our Wonder cruise in January. That only helps you with the last day of the cruise, though.

Also, there is a CVS in Key West around the corner from the port where you can probably purchase beach toys if you decide you need them. There may be other places as well, but that's where we stopped for sunscreen, etc. on our first Western cruise.

 

[HallsofVA]

yeah its always nice resting and relaxing on disney. especially since cruise earlier this month was all business and OMG was the worst cruise ive ever been on i came home saying i need a real cruise now haha which would be disney... Yeah i think so. It could end up being a good thing going by myself and now having anybody holding me back from doing things either. Ok.

Thanks. Definitely making me think more of going by myself hehe

And no :-( the people i know on the ship wont have time to do anything with me theyll be working alot

Looking at your siggie, it looks like you've already done a ton of Disney cruises, including several this year already, so it doesn't seem that you would have anything to worry about by cruising alone. Though I do find that I miss the company of friends and family when I do something without them after doing it with them previously. But each cruise brings a new group of friends to meet and share memories with.

 

[poohbear926]

Looking at your siggie, it looks like you've already done a ton of Disney cruises, including several this year already, so it doesn't seem that you would have anything to worry about by cruising alone. Though I do find that I miss the company of friends and family when I do something without them after doing it with them previously. But each cruise brings a new group of friends to meet and share memories with.

Yes I've done a ton of disney cruises. This will be my 25th cruise in general. Very true every cruise does bring new things and people. So im really thinking about going even if it is by myself. Thanks

 

[poohfriend]

yeah its always nice resting and relaxing on disney. especially since cruise earlier this month was all business and OMG was the worst cruise ive ever been on i came home saying i need a real cruise now haha which would be disney... Yeah i think so. It could end up being a good thing going by myself and now having anybody holding me back from doing things either. Ok.

Thanks. Definitely making me think more of going by myself hehe

And no :-( the people i know on the ship wont have time to do anything with me theyll be working alot

so here's one more opinion.

Unless it will cause a financial hardship...or keep you from taking vacation time from your job sometime in the future, I think you should go.

By 22 you're old enough to handle a trip by yourself. And since you've done so many cruises, it should be easy enough. This cruise would give you some time to think and relax. Wow, I'd really enjoy some quiet time for New Year's Resolutions, reading, and independent activities. YES, you will be out of your comfort zone and that part will stretch you in new ways and help mature you. The one thing that I would consider is making sure I was either with another single, a family, or a Disney sponsored excursion on port days (with the exception of Key West).

with the buffet on deck 9, the fast food areas, palo and room service you shouldn't even have to eat with others if it makes you uncomfortable. I would want to give the first evening meal a chance...who knows you may very much like your table-mates.

you are so close to high-penalty phase with the cruise fare, that I think I'd just go for it.

All that said, I don't think this is a win/loose situation. I think either choice could be a good one. You can stay at home or be on a Disney cruise.

 

[faithfullyeeyore]

Yes I've done a ton of disney cruises. This will be my 25th cruise in general. Very true every cruise does bring new things and people. So im really thinking about going even if it is by myself. Thanks

Scooby was correct; I am solo, 33, and cancer free!! LOL. Table mates are awesome, they are always surprised I'm alone and they invite me to join them when they do activities. Sometimes I join and sometimes I don't! I have always had awesome table mates and I still talk to some from the WB crossing in 07. There are times when I can be shy, but they always bring me out of it. Also, just knowing people from the boards also helps with the feeling of not being totally alone. I also agree that you should not go off the boat by yourself, always make sure you’re in a group or on an excursion. I have not figured out what I am doing yet or you could join me!
My thought is this, if an opportunity comes by, take it. It doesn’t matter if you go by yourself or with a ton of friends, don't let it pass you by. I did the first Med cruise by myself and enjoyed every minute of it. If I had not gone, I would still be regretting it to this day! I know this is just a 7 day to the western, but it is still time for yourself and your thoughts. Time to chill and touch base with yourself! I hope you go! If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me!