Disney Dream - June 12, 2011

[Scouter]

Hi Everyone! Just booked on the June 12, 2011 Disney Dream Cruise!! It will be myself and my daughter (21) who will be graduating in May, 2011 from High School. She is a Special Education student and this is quite an accomplishment for her. So I decided we would celebrate with a cruise!! We previously cruised in October, 2007 on the Magic and loved it! We are both so excited.

Congratulations to your daughter!

 

[cvac]

Coree to The DIS and to our cruise thread.

Thank you!

 

[itutorfortravel]

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I posted, I can't believe how active this thread is already! On our prior cruises, our threads didn't "take off" until a couple months before the cruise, so this is great

Our family has decided to take a trip to Orlando in May. We are going to visit some family but we'll be staying in a condo in Orlando. We've stayed in the same condo complex the past 3 trips down to WDW and love it, so we decided to do it again...maybe someday we'll stay onsite, but for now I am saving all my pennies for DCL!

Anyhow, this trip down we are thinking of only doing one or two days at Disney, probably at MK since that's what our DD likes best (and honestly me too!) We have been thinking about trying out Universal this time and I wondered if any of you have gone and what your opinions are? Our DD is just turning 8 and she's timid of thrill rides so I'm just wondering what will appeal to her. She really wants to go see the Harry Potter area of IOA and from what I am reading it looks like our timing might be good for at least a soft opening of that. So anyway, opinions on Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure? One day, multiple days?

Also, other fun things to do in Orlando? We've also thought about Sea World, but we'll have to make a choice on parks. We don't want to do parks more than 4 days and I'm trying not to spend $1K on park tickets on this trip. Anyone been to Aquatica?

Thanks, and have a happy weekend! DD is having her sleepover birthday party this weekend so we are gearing up for that...it's a camping theme and we're roughing it by pitching the tent indoors - LOL!

 

[abitagirl916]

Hi Everyone! Just booked on the June 12, 2011 Disney Dream Cruise!! It will be myself and my daughter (21) who will be graduating in May, 2011 from High School. She is a Special Education student and this is quite an accomplishment for her. So I decided we would celebrate with a cruise!! We previously cruised in October, 2007 on the Magic and loved it! We are both so excited.

:
What an awesome milestone - - congratulations to your DD! I will get you guys added to the first page.

Congratulations to your daughter!

Thanks to all for the congrats for my DD. We are so looking forward to our "Dream" Cruise. Looking forward to possibly meeting everyone on the ship. We also are going to WDW in May, 2010. Very excited about that too!! I guess I need to add a countdown for my WDW trip, too! Will have to do that later--off to work for now.

 

[itutorfortravel]

Thanks to all for the congrats for my DD. We are so looking forward to our "Dream" Cruise. Looking forward to possibly meeting everyone on the ship. We also are going to WDW in May, 2010. Very excited about that too!! I guess I need to add a countdown for my WDW trip, too! Will have to do that later--off to work for now.

Congratulations from our family as well on your DD's accomplishment!

Have you ever been to WDW in May? We are also going down at that time but are thinking about a day at Universal...looking for opinions on that for an 8 year old girl... We've only been to WDW in December and January so we are looking forward to being able to swim!

 

[marcij]

We just received our vouchers from our Give a Day. Taylor and I made 2 blankets for Project Linus. They were fun to do and we hope that it will brighten some child's day. Taylor is doing a week of residential Career Camp at Sea World this summer. I just made reservations to go to the Hoop Dee Doo before camp starts and then after camp we will spend 2 nights at WDW. It will be short, but that is because we plan to go back for a whole week in September. Wish we could go during spring break in 3 weeks, but we will be spending spring break up north in the Quad Cities visiting relatives. That is the only place Taylor has ever gone for Spring Break and often it snows. All my friends head south and laugh at us

Sounds like a great trip! Congrats on doing Give a Day.

Hi Everyone! Just booked on the June 12, 2011 Disney Dream Cruise!! It will be myself and my daughter (21) who will be graduating in May, 2011 from High School. She is a Special Education student and this is quite an accomplishment for her. So I decided we would celebrate with a cruise!! We previously cruised in October, 2007 on the Magic and loved it! We are both so excited.

Congrats to your daughter and to you. That is a terrific achievement.

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I posted, I can't believe how active this thread is already! On our prior cruises, our threads didn't "take off" until a couple months before the cruise, so this is great

Our family has decided to take a trip to Orlando in May. We are going to visit some family but we'll be staying in a condo in Orlando. We've stayed in the same condo complex the past 3 trips down to WDW and love it, so we decided to do it again...maybe someday we'll stay onsite, but for now I am saving all my pennies for DCL!

Anyhow, this trip down we are thinking of only doing one or two days at Disney, probably at MK since that's what our DD likes best (and honestly me too!) We have been thinking about trying out Universal this time and I wondered if any of you have gone and what your opinions are? Our DD is just turning 8 and she's timid of thrill rides so I'm just wondering what will appeal to her. She really wants to go see the Harry Potter area of IOA and from what I am reading it looks like our timing might be good for at least a soft opening of that. So anyway, opinions on Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure? One day, multiple days?

Also, other fun things to do in Orlando? We've also thought about Sea World, but we'll have to make a choice on parks. We don't want to do parks more than 4 days and I'm trying not to spend $1K on park tickets on this trip. Anyone been to Aquatica?

Thanks, and have a happy weekend! DD is having her sleepover birthday party this weekend so we are gearing up for that...it's a camping theme and we're roughing it by pitching the tent indoors - LOL!

Have fun! We did U and IOA on a non-private (cheaper) VIP tour 18 months ago. My then 9 year old loved the thrill rides (12 year old, not so much but he rode some and waited on us for some) so we didn't spend much time in the kiddie area. We would all love to see the HP stuff. I hope someone has more info or you can get help on that board. Sea World is always a lot of fun for us, but we've never been in Orland. We do San Antonio every labor day. May is a great time to be in the world!

 

[Crystal_27]

We are also going down at that time but are thinking about a day at Universal...looking for opinions on that for an 8 year old girl... We've only been to WDW in December and January so we are looking forward to being able to swim!

No advice here but, since we are doing a couple days of Universal in December, I'll definitely be looking forward to your reviews/thoughts/tips/tricks for Universal once you come back. You might want to check out The DIS's Universal board -- there seems to be a lot of useful advice there, and many people willing to help with any questions you have.

 

[WDWCrazzyCunninghams]

Hello Fellow Cruisers!

We have been to USO/IOA several times. LOVE both parks. We usually stay at least one night, On Site, so we can get the Front Of The Line Access for 2 days. Check in early, 8am, at the hotel and head to the parks at opening! We have always been able to head to our room first to drop the luggage, but I am sure you could leave it in the car or have them hold it if your room is not ready. Makes touring the parks so nice with the FOTL! We all love thrill rides, so we look forward to them. Even if you don't like them, there is still plenty of stuff to see and do! I would definitely go! I learned a lot about USO/IOA on this very site. Be sure to scan those threads too!

I am off to get the boys...Connor from track and Colton from band. Then I think we are home for the night...and I can relax!

 

[itutorfortravel]

Thank you so much for the IOA / US info I think it is part of our plan for our trip down in May! It's just so hard for us (i.e. me) to think about spending a lot of money on another park when I know it will never be Disney - the Mouse has ruined me for life!

Got 6 girls here for a sleepover tonight. Most everything is decorated and ready to go, but I still have a few areas to spiff up and DH has some work to get the tent up and the grass mowed. The weather is supposed to be really nice today and tonight so we are hoping we can roast some marshmallows with the girls. Thankfully I got a good night's sleep last night, I know I'll need all the energy I can muster tonight!

 

[itutorfortravel]

Hello Fellow Cruisers!

We have been to USO/IOA several times. LOVE both parks. We usually stay at least one night, On Site, so we can get the Front Of The Line Access for 2 days.

/QUOTE]

Are the lines unbearable if you don't have access to the front of the line? We always stay offsite at a condo complex where we can get a nice place for a good deal thru DH's work so onsite won't be an option for us...

 

[DMMom]

DD is having her sleepover birthday party this weekend so we are gearing up for that...it's a camping theme and we're roughing it by pitching the tent indoors - LOL!

Good luck. You will have to let us know how it goes. That sounds like alot of fun. May have to try that here once it warms up. It snowed again last night, just after the snow had basically melted.

 

[itutorfortravel]

Good luck. You will have to let us know how it goes. That sounds like alot of fun. May have to try that here once it warms up. It snowed again last night, just after the snow had basically melted.

Thanks! DD is now up and chomping at the bit to decorate! She's going to have me worn out before the guests arrive! LOL...

 

[WDWCrazzyCunninghams]

Hello Fellow Cruisers!

We have been to USO/IOA several times. LOVE both parks. We usually stay at least one night, On Site, so we can get the Front Of The Line Access for 2 days.

/QUOTE]

Are the lines unbearable if you don't have access to the front of the line? We always stay offsite at a condo complex where we can get a nice place for a good deal thru DH's work so onsite won't be an option for us...

Honestly, I don't know! We have always stayed that one night onsite. We check in at 8am, head to the parks. Stay the night there, then check out the next morning, throw the suitcases in the car and head to the parks again. They let you use your room key as your FOTL access for the day you check in and check out. You can buy FOTL Access passes, but it's for a one time use on each FOTL ride and it was somewhere around $25 per person. For our family of 4 that's $100. We usually get our room for under $200, so we see it as FOTL and a $100 room....but then our FOTL is multiple times for each ride and for 2 days, not one, so you could see it as getting the room for free! I remember for Men In Black, we rode it like 3 times in a row. We were certainly getting scowls from those standing in line waiting. But hey, they could have done the same thing! Not every ride/attraction as FOTL but most do. I remember Shrek did not, but that might have changed now that it's been there awhile. I know Dueling Dragons did, but now that it's changed and is part of the Harry Potter themeing, they might have dropped it, I don't know for sure. With the FOTL we are able to do a park a day. Can you do it without? Probably, but I really don't know! LOL I hope this helped you in some way! Oh, and we have gone to Orlando, stayed in a condo, then packed an overnight bag for USO/IOA. That's how much we really like staying onsite and using the FOTL Access!!!
Michele

 

[abitagirl916]

Congratulations from our family as well on your DD's accomplishment!

Have you ever been to WDW in May? We are also going down at that time but are thinking about a day at Universal...looking for opinions on that for an 8 year old girl... We've only been to WDW in December and January so we are looking forward to being able to swim!

Thank you.
I have never been to WDW in May before. I hope the crowds won't be too bad yet since a lot of schools won't be out yet. Also, we will enjoy it being warm enough to be able to swim. Never have been to Universal, so unfortunately, can't help there.

Congrats to your daughter and to you. That is a terrific achievement.

Thank you. We have looked forward to this for a long time.

 

[itutorfortravel]

Good Monday morning everyone! Thank you again to those who gave input on US and IOA. Since this trip is mostly a family visit, we have decided to just play it by ear on the parks. I'll keep reading about US and IOA to gauge how crowded I think it will be and if it's worth going this time. I have to say the Harry Potter area possibly opening up around the time of our visit may convince us not to go, as I am sure it will draw massive crowds. DD would love to see it, but we don't enjoy parks when they are really crowded, so we'd just catch it on another trip. I definitely want to get to MK at least 1 or 2 days and figure that should still be manageable during the week. Maybe we will do some other Orlando things that we don't normally do...sometimes it's easy for me to forget that there is anything but Disney in Orlando - LOL!

Our campout birthday sleepover went really well! The girls had a great time and all were really good - no drama! We were definitely dragging yesterday, but it was worth it.

 

[Crystal_27]

We check in at 8am, head to the parks. Stay the night there, then check out the next morning, throw the suitcases in the car and head to the parks again.

I'm really glad to know that this works out. We've booked at BLT from December 18-January 1, but we will be doing Universal for days on the 19th and 20th, and just staying at Universal on the night of the 19th. We are just going to let our BLT room sit unoccupied the night of the 19th (which is SUCH a waste...) but I'm hopeful that everything works out. We'll see...

Since this trip is mostly a family visit, we have decided to just play it by ear on the parks. I'll keep reading about US and IOA to gauge how crowded I think it will be and if it's worth going this time. I have to say the Harry Potter area possibly opening up around the time of our visit may convince us not to go, as I am sure it will draw massive crowds. DD would love to see it, but we don't enjoy parks when they are really crowded, so we'd just catch it on another trip.

I think you'll be okay. As long as you get to the parks at opening, you should be able to book it to Harry Potter first thing and then just do everything else at a reasonable pace. Also, glad to hear that your sleepover went well -- my DD is turning six on Friday and she wanted a luau birthday party, which we'll be doing on Saturday. I just hope the weather holds. There are snow fluries here this morning (although it was in the 70s on Saturday). This weather is true insanity!

Other than a big birthday to look forward to, DH and I have been busy for the last couple of weekends re-doing the tile flooring in our basement. We had a very light tile in there previously, and decided to pull it all up and go with a darker tile which we put in our mudroom, hallway, and bathroom. We also changed the color scheme of our bathroom to a brown/teal color scheme instead of the royal blue flowers that were in there before (which I hated almost as soon as I put it in). It was a lot of work, but I can't believe how well it turned out and how much I love it. I kept going downstairs yesterday after we finished to admire our work. I have some painting to do today but we are very close to being done. Of course, now that I have the home improvement bug, my guess is that we'll be starting another project very soon.

 

[Fab5Family]

I have to say the Harry Potter area possibly opening up around the time of our visit may convince us not to go, as I am sure it will draw massive crowds. DD would love to see it, but we don't enjoy parks when they are really crowded, so we'd just catch it on another trip.

My oldest is a huge Potter fan (he went trick-or-treating as Harry for three Halloweens in a row), and he is already asking when we can go. This summer, however, we are doing a big DC/Virginia/Maryland/Pennsylvania trip -- so no Florida this year.

Like you, I figure the crowds will be horrific when it first opens. I am hoping it is more manageable by the time of our cruise and we will hit it then.

 

[Fab5Family]

my DD is turning six on Friday and she wanted a luau birthday party, which we'll be doing on Saturday. I just hope the weather holds. There are snow fluries here this morning (although it was in the 70s on Saturday). This weather is true insanity!

I second the insanity!

This past week was Spring Break for us -- beautiful weather with highs in the 70's all week. Then Saturday (the first day of Spring) it dropped into the 30's and we had several inches of snow. Quite the bummer for my friend who had an outdoor sunset wedding by the lake planned for that night.

 

[itutorfortravel]

my DD is turning six on Friday and she wanted a luau birthday party, which we'll be doing on Saturday.

Guess what? Our daughters have something in common...this Friday is my DD's birthday too! She'll be 8, but isn't it a small world?

We did a luau party last year and it was a huge hit. Hope yours is too!

 

[txvjc]

We are just going to let our BLT room sit unoccupied the night of the 19th (which is SUCH a waste...) but I'm hopeful that everything works out.

I'll babysit your room that night so it won't be lonely