Disney Fantasy, August 18, 2012 - Western Caribbean

[DVC_Chris]

Welcome Connie, Stacey and Harbor! I have added all of you to the front page of the thread of Dis'ers cruising.

Harbor, I live in right on the Nassau/Suffolk border in Farmingdale, good to know there is another LI'er in the meet.

Things continue to be hectic here for me, but three weeks ago I did manage to sneak a quick trip down to WDW in order to run in the half marathon. It definitely was a fun event, and anyone else who likes running should definitely think about doing a runDisney event.

I have not really started thinking about excursions yet, but I am going to try to get Scuba Certified between now and then, so I might want to dry a Scuba excursion...

Hope everyone else is doing well!

 

[boundfordisney]

Welcome harbourwhaler! We are getting much closer now and in a few more weeks will be able to do our dining reservations for our stay at disney, still havent thought about any excursions, will probably just do some alone time at the spa and may try to book a cabana on castaway cay ,Im in the process of helping my 2 daughters plan their upcoming cruise on the dream in May, they were booked on this cruise in the beginning but have changed to the dream with a stay at disney before cruise,.wish I was going with them! But 7 nights on the fantasy will beat out 3 nights on the dream big time lol! Anyone else made any plans for a stay at disney before or after cruise, waiting to see any new offers hopefully for room discount or free dining as it sure helps out!

 

[olympia]

Anyone else made any plans for a stay at disney before or after cruise, waiting to see any new offers hopefully for room discount or free dining as it sure helps out!

We booked 5 nights at the animal kingdom after the cruise : Thumbsup2
I know that hotel but it looks nice in photos: Adorar:
we have a room overlooking the pool: Cool2:
I'm nervous because I have not watched any tour and time goes fast: Eek:
saludos!!!Greetings!

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi everyone, especially everyone new.
We've booked our accommodation but not onsite. We've rented a pool villa at Windsor Hills. villasnext2disney.webplus.net/ We would like to stay onsite but 17 nights in a hotel room is just too much. We've rented at Windsor Hills twice before and loved it.
Olympia, you will just love Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had a week there also last trip. Definitely my favourite onsite hotel. Its so beautiful.
We've started booking ADR's for our stay at Disney World. So far we have booked T-Rex and Mickeys Backyard BBQ. We have done both of them before but these are the kids choices. The five of us picked one restaurant each for dinner then we added two more for good luck, plus Victoria and Alberts and two character breakfasts.

 

[olympia]

Olympia, you will just love Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had a week there also last trip. Definitely my favourite onsite hotel. Its so beautiful.
We've started booking ADR's for our stay at Disney World. So far we have booked T-Rex and Mickeys Backyard BBQ. We have done both of them before but these are the kids choices. The five of us picked one restaurant each for dinner then we added two more for good luck, plus Victoria and Alberts and two character breakfasts.

Thank you!: Thumbsup2 What room did you have?. I have with a view to the pool. Are far from the breakfast?
where is Vistoria & Albert?: Sad2:

 

[It'sWDW4me]

We're planning on going to US/IOA for a few days pre-cruise and then just heading home after the cruise.

I'm still solidifying flights and hotel. The only airline offering direct flights to MCO from the airport behind my house (literally 3 minute drive ) is pulling out of our airport. Their last flight? 8/12/12.

I've taken an extended break on our FE and FE gifts. I really gotta get back into that - I'm making something by hand.

3 out of the 4 of us don't have passports and DS only has a passport card which is good for land & sea travel but not air travel to/from Mexico. I'm still not sure if we want to incur that expense or take a gamble and just use our birth certificates. I've heard horror stories of medical emergencies or missing the boat and, without a passport, not being able to fly back to the US but does that really happen that often or are the odds with us?

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Thank you!: Thumbsup2 What room did you have?. I have with a view to the pool. Are far from the breakfast?
where is Vistoria & Albert?: Sad2:

We had a concierge level room which had a view of the savannah. We were on level 4 and quite a walk down the corridor. But it was worth it. The views were fantastic. I think Animal Kingdom Lodge has one of the nicest pool areas. Its a beautiful view to have also. The rooms, I believe, are closer in to the lobby and restaurants.
Victoria and Alberts is a restaurant at the Grand Floridian. A bit of a splurge for us. We have never eaten in a place like that before. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

We're planning on going to US/IOA for a few days pre-cruise and then just heading home after the cruise.

I'm still solidifying flights and hotel. The only airline offering direct flights to MCO from the airport behind my house (literally 3 minute drive ) is pulling out of our airport. Their last flight? 8/12/12.

I've taken an extended break on our FE and FE gifts. I really gotta get back into that - I'm making something by hand.

3 out of the 4 of us don't have passports and DS only has a passport card which is good for land & sea travel but not air travel to/from Mexico. I'm still not sure if we want to incur that expense or take a gamble and just use our birth certificates. I've heard horror stories of medical emergencies or missing the boat and, without a passport, not being able to fly back to the US but does that really happen that often or are the odds with us?

That is annoying about the flights. And so close to the trip. If only they could hold out a couple of weeks. That is a dilemma about the passport. I would imagine the odds would be with you. Afterall, thousands of people would travel by cruise to mexico every week. But then I suppose it only takes one. Its not a question for us. We can't go anywhere at all out of the country without one. I have to get new passports for the kids as theirs have expired.

I've been slack with the FE gifts also. I've bought nearly everything I needed to make them but that's as far as I have got. I had good intentions of finishing them during the school holidays but the kids went back Friday and all the afterschool activities have started again. My life is again ruled by ballet. I need to set aside a few late nights I think.

 

[boundfordisney]

We had dinner at Bomas on our last trip and loved it! The animal kingdom lodge is beautiful! Will be adding Bomas to our dining plans for August for sure, Im not a big meat eater and seldom eat ribs but I did try them at bomas and they were the best I have ever eaten ! Flights from Buffalo are up in price so far, and southwest doesnt have as many to choose from as they use too, hopeing for a sale to come up will keep checking. My daughter has stayed at windsor hills on previous trips and had nothing but good reviews, the homes are just beautiful! Are we planning a dismeet once onboard?

 

[It'sWDW4me]

That is annoying about the flights. And so close to the trip. If only they could hold out a couple of weeks. That is a dilemma about the passport. I would imagine the odds would be with you. Afterall, thousands of people would travel by cruise to mexico every week. But then I suppose it only takes one. Its not a question for us. We can't go anywhere at all out of the country without one. I have to get new passports for the kids as theirs have expired.

I've been slack with the FE gifts also. I've bought nearly everything I needed to make them but that's as far as I have got. I had good intentions of finishing them during the school holidays but the kids went back Friday and all the afterschool activities have started again. My life is again ruled by ballet. I need to set aside a few late nights I think.

Sigh... and if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all! Getting close to the point of no-return on the passport issue for me.... Grrrr - $300 spent on passports which we just may never use again or spent on excursions we'll remember forever? Of course we ALSO could always remember forever the few days we spent trying to get emergency passports so that we could get the heck out of Mexico or Grand Cayman.

Is your craft portable? I cross stitch so it would be nothing for me to work on it whilst waiting for the ballet class to finish up.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

We had dinner at Bomas on our last trip and loved it! The animal kingdom lodge is beautiful! Will be adding Bomas to our dining plans for August for sure, Im not a big meat eater and seldom eat ribs but I did try them at bomas and they were the best I have ever eaten ! Flights from Buffalo are up in price so far, and southwest doesnt have as many to choose from as they use too, hopeing for a sale to come up will keep checking. My daughter has stayed at windsor hills on previous trips and had nothing but good reviews, the homes are just beautiful! Are we planning a dismeet once onboard?

I love both Boma and Jiko too. This is the first trip we wont be eating there. I'm a bit sad actually. But we really wanted to try something new and the kids had already chosen some repeats. I'm not a meat eater either....seafood is the only meat I eat. I love the soups at Boma. And everytime we have a bbq at home now we make the Boma Pasta Salad. Its delicious.

Flights are expensive aren't they. We used points to book most of our flights but even with that we had to pay taxes which were over $3000 for all of us. I suppose its better than what we would have had to pay if we had to pay airfare aswell.

Hoping we will have a meet on board. On our last cruise we met on the first day and then it was nice just running into people and recognising them on the rest of the cruise.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Sigh... and if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all! Getting close to the point of no-return on the passport issue for me.... Grrrr - $300 spent on passports which we just may never use again or spent on excursions we'll remember forever? Of course we ALSO could always remember forever the few days we spent trying to get emergency passports so that we could get the heck out of Mexico or Grand Cayman.

Is your craft portable? I cross stitch so it would be nothing for me to work on it whilst waiting for the ballet class to finish up.

It is a lot of money for passports. Theres so many things you could spend it on. You would certainly have a few stories to tell otherwise. Could be interesting. You know if you don't get them you will need them. And if you don't get them, you wont need them.

No, its not really portable. It involves glitter. It would give me something to do though. I spend my life waiting around ballet class between both girls.

 

[boundfordisney]

Hi princessbelle wow that is alot for airfare! your trip must cost you a bundle with living so far away!Im sure the long hours in the plane feel like a trip in its self! But I know you will agree that disney is worth it! Whenever someone asks me how much does a trip cost to go I tell them it really cant be measured by money as its the memories that you will have and they are priceless, and even though it can be costly it is worth every single penny you will spend, must be or why else would I keep comimg back every year for the past 7 years in a row and sometimes twice a year lol! I find it hard to book a vacation elsewhere! Course they also had to throw in the new ships to cruise on, got us hooked there as well lol!Glad I dont live in port canaveral or I could be in real trouble cause I think I would be broke but livin on a disney ship !I think for those of us who live so far away we appreciate disney all the more then if we were close enough to go whenever we wanted. I booked a 2 bedroom villa at okw last night but am hoping for a room discount to come along if it doesnt may change to the cbr later as its a big difference in price, free dining would help as well as I really want to check out okw this trip and with 2 teen grandkids the 2 bedroom would work out alot better then staying in 1 room. At least for now we do have okw booked, staying for 5 nights after cruise. A meet would be great once on the ship , looking forward to meeting all the great dissers here !

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Hi princessbelle wow that is alot for airfare! your trip must cost you a bundle with living so far away!Im sure the long hours in the plane feel like a trip in its self! But I know you will agree that disney is worth it! Whenever someone asks me how much does a trip cost to go I tell them it really cant be measured by money as its the memories that you will have and they are priceless, and even though it can be costly it is worth every single penny you will spend, must be or why else would I keep comimg back every year for the past 7 years in a row and sometimes twice a year lol! I find it hard to book a vacation elsewhere! Course they also had to throw in the new ships to cruise on, got us hooked there as well lol!Glad I dont live in port canaveral or I could be in real trouble cause I think I would be broke but livin on a disney ship !I think for those of us who live so far away we appreciate disney all the more then if we were close enough to go whenever we wanted. I booked a 2 bedroom villa at okw last night but am hoping for a room discount to come along if it doesnt may change to the cbr later as its a big difference in price, free dining would help as well as I really want to check out okw this trip and with 2 teen grandkids the 2 bedroom would work out alot better then staying in 1 room. At least for now we do have okw booked, staying for 5 nights after cruise. A meet would be great once on the ship , looking forward to meeting all the great dissers here !

It does cost a fortune to get anywhere from here. Especially for the whole family. And I hate the plane trip. I'm not good at sitting still for that long. From the time our plane departs Melbourne to the time it lands in Orlando, it will be just over 24 hours. Then we have to check in 3 hours before that and we have about a 2 hour trip to the airport from home. I'm dreading it. But of course, its the only way we can get our Disney fix. And I wouldn't want to give that up. Its definitely worth it. I've thought about going to Hong Kong Disney but I just know I'd be disappointed after having been to Disneyland and WDW.
I think next trip though we will have to do something else (as well as Disney of course). Megan is wanting to go to Paris, Venice and Rome. Strange for a 9 year old but she' talks about it all the time. Of course we would throw in Disneyland Paris and if I'm lucky, come home via Orlando. Our last three trips have been WDW & cruise (2009), WDW (2007), DL (2005). I'd love to go more often but the cost and time is prohibitive.

OKW would be fantastic. It would be nice to have the space that it gives you. Hopefully a free dining announcement or some other discount wont be too far away.

 

[DVC_Chris]

Suzanne,

Do you know about Tables in Wonderland? It is available for DVC Members, Florida Residents, and Annual Passholders (and with a 17 night stay in Orlando I am guessing you are getting at least one of them). It costs $75 and gives you 20% off food and alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages at just about every table service restaurant and bar at Disney (some ones not operated by Disney are excluded). You can easily make that back with the one trip to Victoria and Alberts.

Something to consider.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Suzanne,

Do you know about Tables in Wonderland? It is available for DVC Members, Florida Residents, and Annual Passholders (and with a 17 night stay in Orlando I am guessing you are getting at least one of them). It costs $75 and gives you 20% off food and alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages at just about every table service restaurant and bar at Disney (some ones not operated by Disney are excluded). You can easily make that back with the one trip to Victoria and Alberts.

Something to consider.

Yes, we do know about this and will get one this trip as we do have annual passes. You're right, between us, it will pay for itself at Victoria and Alberts. (I'm sooo excited about this dinner. ) We did have one last trip and even with free dining, it more than paid for itself. I was wondering though how it works with CRT and MBYBBQ which are paid in advance. Do I just show the card on the night and do they refund the discount?
I cant believe we have already booked some of our ADR's. We are only doing 8 dinners and 2 breakfasts over the 17 nights. T-Rex, MBYBBQ and Cape May dinner have been booked. Still to go are House of Blues, Rose and Crown, Raglan Road, California Grill and Victoria and Alberts dinners and CRT and Chef Mickeys breakfasts. We are also hoping to do the Wishes Dessert Party.

 

[boundfordisney]

Im still waiting to be able to do our dining reservations, 27th of Feb. I think is when i can book them. Ive just started to think that perhaps I should invest in an annual park pass does it save you much money by buying one? I know I will at least be doing 2 trips within the year any input on this? Love seeing the tickers get closer to the cruise!

 

[DVC_Chris]

Im still waiting to be able to do our dining reservations, 27th of Feb. I think is when i can book them. Ive just started to think that perhaps I should invest in an annual park pass does it save you much money by buying one? I know I will at least be doing 2 trips within the year any input on this? Love seeing the tickers get closer to the cruise!

It really depends on the length of the trips and the number of days that you are going to be going to the parks. Right now I think the cost of a standard adult AP is about $500 + tax. If that is less than what you were going to spend on tickets for the two trips, then it is worthwhile, otherwise it isn't. There are some added benefits, most WDW merchandise shops offer a 10% AP discount, there is a discount on hotel rooms, and some meals, plus the ability to purchase the Tables in Wonderland ticket for an additional $75 per group (each person does not need their own one), gives you 20% off at table service restaurants. If you are a DVC member, then the price of the ticket goes down by $100 pp.

Another nice thing about having an AP is that I do not feel guilty about going to a park on my arrival or departure days, when I do not have the AP, I sometimes feel like I am wasting a days worth of tickets.

 

[boundfordisney]

thanks for sharing the info dvc chris you made a good point about arrival and departure days, at the least I usually get 7 day passes if not more so I think Im going to go with an anual pass and see how it works out for me, the added bonuses are a good point too. Plus it gives me a good excuse to go again as I wouldnt want to waste the pass lol!

 

[PrincessBelle39]

It really depends on the length of the trips and the number of days that you are going to be going to the parks. Right now I think the cost of a standard adult AP is about $500 + tax. If that is less than what you were going to spend on tickets for the two trips, then it is worthwhile, otherwise it isn't. There are some added benefits, most WDW merchandise shops offer a 10% AP discount, there is a discount on hotel rooms, and some meals, plus the ability to purchase the Tables in Wonderland ticket for an additional $75 per group (each person does not need their own one), gives you 20% off at table service restaurants. If you are a DVC member, then the price of the ticket goes down by $100 pp.

Another nice thing about having an AP is that I do not feel guilty about going to a park on my arrival or departure days, when I do not have the AP, I sometimes feel like I am wasting a days worth of tickets.

Yes I've just pulled mine out and we paid just over $550. Ours is the standard Annual Pass, not the Premium Annual Pass that includes Disney Quest and Water Parks. We used the 10% discount at World of Disney heaps last time. Probably why we had to pay for excess luggage on the way home. The Tables in Wonderland card was great too. For us its an added benefit as we like to stay offsite and it covers parking also. There were also discounts on tours which is great.