December 9, 2007 4 night

[MINNIE OF TWO MICE]

Crystal - krdisneybound answered wonderfully...the only thing I would add is to wash your pillowcase before you go too. If not it wont be soft. I too carried my own colored sharpies and they worked great. With my mat I had them use just black. I requested all characters for both and I got a really good mix. The books I have already I got at a some local book stores. The one I ordered yesterday I got from mousesavers is the passporters guide to disney cruising spiral bound book. I actually only had the original passporters guide for the parks. Birmbaums also has a disney cruise line book. I personally like all of my Birmbaums guides. They have a multitude of disney travel books.

Krdisneybound - I have no idea how old you are (could be younger than me) But will you please please please adopt me. I am so jealous but very happy for you too!! My husband said I could only go every other year when I booked the last time. When we were leaving and saw the signs "see you real soon" I thought I was going to cry. I hope you have a good time on your next trip. Thanks for telling us about treasure ketch. That was the first time I heard of that. It is the neat things like that to me that are priceless. Have you heard anything about photopass coming to the Wonder? It would be so nice. Shutters sees me coming. On the other hand I wouldnt take anything for my pictures. Especially the ones they caught of my disney darlings on castaway cays beach.

 

[krdisneybound]

Minnie:

u r so funny. yes, I'll adopt you. I need an extra person in my life right now. Of course my DD will say that you have to help babysit Abby for us on the cruise. She wants so badly to go to Atlantis in Nassau but after reading all the Navigators that I brought home, she is so excited to do everything onboard that is offered.

BTW - she will be at each and EVERY Bingo game that is played. Does anyone else like Bingo??

Yes, it seems that I am cruising a lot this year. I have been on 3 already and have three more to go - including this one. I didn't want to go alone and my DD said she would go with me - BUT, of course, I had to agree to taking the baby with us.

I booked us through COSTCO and got a cash card for $350. I hardly ever book thru any other agent for a long time. Those cash cards sure come in handy - especially for gas this past year.

I took my sister and nieces on the 11 day Disney cruise last September and got a cash card of $1,200. I am still using that for gas.

My DH just passed away, so I have been trying to keep myself busy with many things.

I leave on Saturday for Hawaii to visit my DIL and 2 g/children. I'll be there for 3 weeks.

When I get home I'll have to do something to keep me busy for the summer.

Abby will be 15 months old by 12/9 and she will be so cute by then.

WELL, I have rambled on enough. I'll check in soon

 

[MINNIE OF TWO MICE]

Kay - I am so glad to hear that you have children and grandchildren. I hope that brings you comfort. Off topic but my children only have my mother who is 63 and my paternal grandfather who is 84. Mine and my DH grandparents have all past but the one as well as our parents. There are six children in my family and 14 grandchildren. My mother is wonderful but stretched thin when it comes to be able to spend alot of time with us. She works. My father passed away two years ago and it is by far the most hurtful thing that has ever happened to me. I often feel sorry for my children that they dont have the relationship with grandparents that I got to have as a child. My grandfather still does alot. He is very active. It makes me happy that you can go travel with your family. I cant wait to see Abby(?) ! I dont mind watching her if yall are on an excursion on Castaway Cay. We could watch yall. Remember......I am just taking it easy. I am so sorry to hear about your DH.

 

[MINNIE OF TWO MICE]

Oh yeah I will be playing bingo!!! I did the Pajama Bingo last year. It was alot of fun.

 

[krdisneybound]

Hi again everyone:

Minnie: Yep, they did the PJ Bingo on the cruise last week also. I think they got a free card or a sheet of 3 cards. I didn't play at all this time.


I'll be leaving for Hawaii on Saturday and I'll post some pics for you to see.

Minnie:

Here is a pic of Abby: taken last week - so cute - I'm not prejudiced at all

THIS IS KAREN - Abby's Mom - the three of us are crusing with you guys:

 

[krdisneybound]

My two g/children in Hawaii:

This was taken on the North Shore when my DS and DIL renewed their wedding vows before he left for Iraq last year.

 

[krdisneybound]

Me with Stitch on the WONDER:


I love that little critter:

 

[MINNIE OF TWO MICE]

You have some precious grandchildren. Your daughter looks just like you. I am going to have to learn to post pictures. I am technically challenged. Hopefully this summer I will have more time to try. Right now I am sneaking on the threads so the children dont know. They are going to be soooo surprised. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside everytime I think about it. I want them to stay the age they are forever!!!!

 

[krdisneybound]

It is really easy.

I'll get with you when I get back and walk you thru it. You'll be surprised once you get the gist of it. I promise.

I'm watching TIVO'd movies right now. I am resting up for what is to come in the next 3 weeks.

You have some precious grandchildren. Your daughter looks just like you. I am going to have to learn to post pictures. I am technically challenged. Hopefully this summer I will have more time to try. Right now I am sneaking on the threads so the children dont know. They are going to be soooo surprised. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside everytime I think about it. I want them to stay the age they are forever!!!!

 

[krdisneybound]

Hi everyone:

Mark your calendars to make your onboard ressies and other activities as follows:

75 days out if you are a first time cruiser

90 days out if you are a Castaway Cay Member

105 days out if you are Concierge guests


Palo brunch, dinner and high tea go pretty fast. But if you don't book online, they leave a few spots open for you to book the day that you board the ship - you have to go to Wave Bands on Deck 3 midship to do that.

Hope everyone has a great day and a WONDERful weekend

 

[MINNIE OF TWO MICE]

Kay - Have a great time in Hawaii.

My calender is marked for September 10!!!!!! I want the palo brunch. I have never heard of the high tea.

I am still undecided about the stingrays. Probably wont do them.

Does anyone know how to request your previous servers? I really would like to have ours. We had Agus and Sabrina. Very Very nice people. My children loved both of them.

This weekend we are ................Yes you know it already.....RACING!!!! What I am glad of though is it is our home track and it is asphalt. No nasty dirt. Pretty much one set up. Alot easier. My own bed.

Last weekend we were staying at the Holiday Inn Express and when we got to the Hotel from racing I said "Who has our Key to the World Card?" At the same time everyone said "Mom, it is the farthest thing froma KTTW card as you can get!!!!!" I wish I had the patience for a summer visit. Just dont have it in me.

I dont know if any of your children are into webkinz but our local store just now finally got some in. They are a pretty hot in Memphis right now. It is alot of online fun though.

Is anyone else thinking about staying on the ship in Nassau? If we do is there anything to do? It may be a good time to see some of the shows if they are going on. I need to check out some old navigators.

 

[krdisneybound]

Thanks very much

I am finishing the very last minute things to finish.

Everyone have a wonderful weekend

 

[MINNIE OF TWO MICE]

Back to some awesome asphalt racing last night!!! My little man qualified first and won only by a kart length. We all had a great time and can relax today. Have a good weekend.

 

[Crystal_27]

That's awesome, Minnie2! Very cool for your DS!

How is everyone's week shaping up? We are going on vacation to South Dakota next week, so my week is going to be filled with packing and house cleaning.

Oh well, that just means that we are one week closer to Disney, right?!? This week also marks my 180 day ADR deadline, and it was so great to have an email from my Travel Agent this morning asking about our dining plans. Although I'm sure that our Land/Sea is going to be hectic, I absolutely cannot wait to experience Disney without having to worry about every penny! (The last time we went to Disney was for our 1st anniversary - I was 19 years old - and we had brought what we had budgeted in cash and *had* to make sure that every dollar counted.) Anyway, I hope everyone has a great week! I'm going to probably spend a lot of time on the menu review boards at The DIS and at AllEars to make sure I'm not missing anything with my ADRs. I am planning on Ohanas dinner, Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast, Crystal Palace breakfast, and Kona's breakfast. My DH didn't want a lot of ADRs, so I figurered that it was easiest to plan breakfast and let the rest of the day plan itself around our stomachs!

 

[princesdi]

Where are you headed to in SD??

we had the dining plan last year it was absolutely the best money we have spent. I loved the fact that we didn't have to dig through our pockets to fork over money all the time--actually by having the dining plan we spent hardly any money at all. I highly recommend making dining reservations!! We only changed ours once because we ran into a time crunch at MGM. We loved it.

We placed an order with garden grocer and had them deliver to our resort. We ordered bottled water and breakfast items. This saved us a ton of money.

I cannot say enough about the dining plan--seemed like alot of money at the time but we ate well that entire week and were not feeding on fast food everyday.

 

[MINNIE OF TWO MICE]

We have had the dining plan every trip but the first one. It is a good opportunity to eat at some nice restaurants that we probably wouldnt otherwise.

This trip we are using our old passes that we had left over from a ten day. Therefore I cant get the dining plan. We are going to get Whispering Canyon mainly because we are staying there and have never tried it. (probably the first day) We cant miss Ohanas because it is one of the childrens favorites. and possibly a character meal. I need to think about that alot this week. It is kinda hard with the little ones lurking over my shoulder all the time. I have to be careful. Last year it seemed like our reservations kept us pulled in all directions. It is ALOT of food. We have given food away before on our last day and also last year we used our snack credits for drinks on the way to the port last year. If I were on the dining plan, we wouldnt miss California Grill. It is all of our favorite. The rest will be counter service. I will be paying OOP this time!

Thanks crystal27 for supporting Howard. He would be tickled if I could tell him. Have a good time on your trip. I myself have negelcted our house because we have been on the road too much. This week is going to be like spring cleaning. My children are outgrowing all of their clothes. I am going to have to go shopping with them.

PrincessDi has been holding back on us!!!!! I have seen her on another thread
with some good tips!!! I love all of the tips I can get, however last year it looked like we were moving in.

I am so excited you would think we were leaving next week.

 

[Crystal_27]

Where are you headed to in SD??

We're heading to Mitchell, SD which is about an hour from Sioux Falls. My DH's family is having a HUGE family reunion, so we are making the trek. I'm very excited because Mitchell has the BEST scrapbooking store in the universe, so I will be spending lots of time and money there.

Regarding the DDP, we were all prepared to purchase it but, because we are doing the Land/Sea, we could not add DDP, and purchasing everything separately would have COST us an additional $400 (and the $400 cost was with a "downgrade" to a Category 6 opposed to the Category 5 we now have booked). My TA left it up to me, but I didn't think that we'd be spending $400 on food in 4 days. I could be wrong, but I'm not that worried about it - it all pretty much works out in the wash. What worries me the most, though, is that we have no ADRs planned for lunch and dinner. DH wanted to "wing it" for lunch and dinner, so I hope that we'll be able to find places to eat!

 

[princesdi]

Minnie of 2--Whispering Canyon was one of our favorite restaurants--the joke was on my family when we got there, I didn't forewarn them until we sat down how the whole meal would work. They had my DD up dancing and singing and my DD, DH and DS delivering ketchup--it was hillarious.

The DP is alot of food, but coming from the midwest where we have to travel 4 hours to get to nice restaurants it was a special treat. We would have never eaten this elaborate had we just paid out of our pockets.

Tips--thanks for the kudos--I have learned from the best. Last year I probably annoyed my family to no end, but here is my theory. We pay good money to go on these trips and by taking my time to build my knowledge bank makes our trip so much better. I feel badly for people who do not do their research! I am still learning because every trip seems to be different.

Crystal 27--we drove through Mitchell on our way to Mall of American several years ago. Corn palace is pretty cool!

Have a great week everyone!

 

[MINNIE OF TWO MICE]

My DD is planning her 13th birthday. (2008) Our best friend and his son (2) is going with us. She has picked WL for her celebration. Isnt that going to be great when she finds out we are going to be there this year. I think I am going to tell them a little along. First WDW.....when we get there let them see what resort and maybe at breakfast the next morning the cruise.

I have added stuff to my list and taken stuff off my list. I know I would still get there and be missing something but that how it goes. I have a WDW box with my door decorations for the cruise, lanyards and stuff like that. I keep my passports and BC put up. The childrens pin trading lanyards are in their rooms and well as their fanny packs with their "essentials". I will have to remind myself not to forget those.

 

[krdisneybound]

MINNIE: We love Whispering Canyon also. VWL is our DVC main resort and I just love staying there. Everything is so convenient. The remodeling of the snack area is much better also.

Isn't planning nice. You are doing a great job.

If you want to following my trip to Hawaii, I have started a thread and will post a little each day about it. Sort of makes it fun and gives me a running diary of each day also and then I can print it out when I get home.

It is at:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1472938