Disney Magic - 05/10/13 (May 10, 2013) - Calling All Kids At Heart

[beaglefan]

Can anyone tell me how the dinner seating goes..... I am trying to decide if I want to request a family size table to avoid sitting with strangers. I know part of the DCL experience is meeting new people and all but we once had a very bad experience as Disney's Epcot's Beirgraden, (we were sat with a family who argued with each other and treated each other very poorly the entire time). So afraid of this happening again, and to think then you sit with them your entire vacation. Does Disney try to match singles with singles. Those with smaller kids with other families with smaller kids and so on.... Getting anxiety about this. What if we get stuck with people who just aren’t polite, or what if we don't get the chance to meet and converse with other families because we choose to seclude ourselves? Can anybody help?

I echo some of the prior comments -- Disney uses their magic to match you with families of similar age demographics. Though we didn't have tons in common with the family (ie didn't search each other out during the cruise), the kids enjoyed having someone else at the table their age, and it was nice to have some adult conversation -- there is plenty of family-only time the rest of the trip.

I didn't know how I would like sitting with others, but in the end I am glad that I did that and when asked this time around by reservations, I told them to sit me at a larger table.

If you have a miserable experience with the table seating, the Head Server was always willing to make accommodations. Disney wants you to have a magical time, not a miserable one.

I am already thinking about those Mickey Ice Cream bars -- who says those are just for kids?

 

[Gryffinclaw]

Wow! Our FE List has grown to nearly 100 staterooms! You can find the updated list through this link- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkIxIiMtjoLedHZ5S2lObHhjWDlxZVQ5MWhPNnoxT0E&usp=sharing
Just kidding! That's probably my one and only April Fool's joke...couldn't resist!

I appreciate everyone helping to keep me on track with the updates. Though I'm more of an old-school excel kind of gal, I took a stab at formatting our google doc a bit to help organize for delivery routes. Since I didn't hear back from the majority of the group to confirm the accuracy of the list, I'm hoping that y'all will let me know if there's a problem. Please let me know about any changes, and I will do my best to be prompt with corrections.

The excitement on the board has been contagious, and I can hardly wait for our amazing cruise! Take care-

Becca- you got me! I almost fell outta my chair! Happy April everyone!

Gennie

 

[MissAverysMomma]

I emailed this info, but it doesn't seem to be updated on the list. Our stateroom is 7564. 2 adults - Roger and Jennie; Princess Avery - 4.5 years old, and Prince Austin - 3 years old.

Splitting is fine with me too. We are so excited!

 

[DanReviewsCars]

Does anyone happen to know what hotel Disney uses near HOU for shuttle pickup?

We're wanting to take the Disney bus to Galveston, but want to book our hotel with Hotels.com award points.

Thanks!!

 

[Luv2Diz]

Does anyone happen to know what hotel Disney uses near HOU for shuttle pickup?

We're wanting to take the Disney bus to Galveston, but want to book our hotel with Hotels.com award points.

Thanks!!

I'm not sure which hotel Disney uses near HOU, if any. On our last cruise, we just took the motel shuttle back to the airport in the morning and caught the Disney shuttle from HOU.

 

[DanReviewsCars]

I'm not sure which hotel Disney uses near HOU, if any. On our last cruise, we just took the motel shuttle back to the airport in the morning and caught the Disney shuttle from HOU.

Thanks! We'll plan on doing that unless we hear otherwise.

 

[s232271]

Dd u see the new IGT rate wish I could have done that.....

 

[golfpccc]

Hi, we just booked this cruise, our first Disney. We will probably be the only old people on the ship without kids or grandkids...lol. Hope we have dinner seating with several other childless couples, love to meet others and have great dinner conversations.

Trying to figure out how everything works! Have signed up for the 7:15 bus to Epcot--question--do you need to sign up for a returning bus? If so, how? Will we receive our luggage tags in the mail? Should we reserve rafts/inner tubes, snorkeling equipment etc for CC on line or can this be done once on the island for the same price? We are experienced cruisers, but for some reason, this feels like our first cruise and seem to have lots of questions.

Would appreciate any help.

Thanks

 

[traylork]

Yes, you'll get luggage tags in the mail; no, I don't think you can reserve the items listed from CC in advance.

I just fooled around to see if there are many cabins remaining. There appear to be, at the moment, but I noticed that the boat has reached capacity for children under three (unintentionally, but i included my own party's ages in my search and it said sold out; when i changed the ages of my children to four, cabins magically appeared). Makes sense, since they don't have attendance requirements in Pre-K. But, I did find it very peculiar that they have cut off bookings including babies - I didn't realize they did that. Looks like the splash pad in Mickey's ear will be crowded!

 

[Zandersmom]

Just a couple things regarding the FE list-

First, it seems like we can maximize everyone's happiness with the exchange by splitting the group for those who desire a smaller number, while encouraging anyone who would like to be a part of the entire FE group to remain on both lists. That being said, I think that it could potentially be several more than 17 rooms in each group. Who knows, maybe many of us don't mind a large exchange and it would be 24 & 24... If possible, I will begin to work on the modified lists tomorrow. Unless you commented in the past day or so on this topic, please PM me or email becca.zpack@gmail.com.

Also, it was brought to my attention that the far right column of comments did not sort correctly when I ran the auto-sort feature Sunday evening. I apologize that and will try to accurately reconstruct that column based on old emails and posts. If you want to help out by reminding me of your allergies and "FE kids only" preferences, that would be terrific. Sorry about that mixup!

Thanks for your patience while I get the list straightened out and I appreciate your input!

Wish we were sailing this month, though it will be here before we know it!

 

[DanReviewsCars]

Called Disney to book our shuttle tonight, and were informed that Disney is no longer offering this service from HOU - only IAH.

We called Enterprise about a one-way rental, and they said the Galveston branch isn't accepting them at this time.

Taxi/ExecuCar is $110 each way (plus tip).

Does anyone have ideas for a cost-efficient means of transport from HOU to the cruise terminal??

 

[Zandersmom]

Believe me, I'm also getting tired of my FE related posts, and look forward to getting to the fun part--our cruise!

I have attempted to create a poll to help reformat our list into 2 lists. Please feel free to choose whatever option suits you best--exchanging with everyone, or exchanging with about half of the group. The half group option will increase to accommodate anyone who would like to participate with our total group. Clear as mud?....Great! I have set the poll to close in 4 days to be sure that everyone has time to consider the best option for them. Please find the link below and thanks for your input!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3090219

 

[Zandersmom]

Called Disney to book our shuttle tonight, and were informed that Disney is no longer offering this service from HOU - only IAH.

We called Enterprise about a one-way rental, and they said the Galveston branch isn't accepting them at this time.

Taxi/ExecuCar is $110 each way (plus tip).

Does anyone have ideas for a cost-efficient means of transport from HOU to the cruise terminal??

This is probably a really dumb suggestion, but I wonder how much it would cost to taxi or rent one way to go from Hobby to IAH? It's not very logical but could be cheaper??? It was a really, really long day at work, so please disregard if I've gone off the deep end...

 

[DanReviewsCars]

This is probably a really dumb suggestion, but I wonder how much it would cost to taxi or rent one way to go from Hobby to IAH? It's not very logical but could be cheaper??? It was a really, really long day at work, so please disregard if I've gone off the deep end...

No, that's not a crazy suggestion at all! Thanks for the idea.

We looked into it, and it'd still be cheaper to do an ExecuCar ($220 r/t vs. $180 + 2x taxi fares).

Ugh. We're ready to find friends down there and just pay them to take us. Problem is, it's on a Friday, and most people work.

 

[SapphireMind]

If we had a bigger car, we'd help out! HOU is on the way to galveston. IAH isn't.

hmm...I can't think of any better options unfortunately.

 

[Luv2Diz]

Called Disney to book our shuttle tonight, and were informed that Disney is no longer offering this service from HOU - only IAH.

We called Enterprise about a one-way rental, and they said the Galveston branch isn't accepting them at this time.

Taxi/ExecuCar is $110 each way (plus tip).

Does anyone have ideas for a cost-efficient means of transport from HOU to the cruise terminal??

Sounds like Disney is giving conflicting information about the HOU shuttles. When we booked the cruise less than 2 weeks ago, I had our TA ask Disney about shuttles. She was told that Disney would operate HOU shuttles through May 15. (We are flying into HOU but out of IAH.) I planned to call our TA tomorrow to have her book the shuttles, so we'll see what information she gets.

 

[DanReviewsCars]

Sounds like Disney is giving conflicting information about the HOU shuttles. When we booked the cruise less than 2 weeks ago, I had our TA ask Disney about shuttles. She was told that Disney would operate HOU shuttles through May 15. (We are flying into HOU but out of IAH.) I planned to call our TA tomorrow to have her book the shuttles, so we'll see what information she gets.

Thanks. Our TA also told us it was available, but when we contacted Disney directly, they told us it wasn't.

Keep us posted on what your TA reports back tomorrow. Thank you for your help!

 

[LoveMM]

Believe me, I'm also getting tired of my FE related posts, and look forward to getting to the fun part--our cruise!

I have attempted to create a poll to help reformat our list into 2 lists. Please feel free to choose whatever option suits you best--exchanging with everyone, or exchanging with about half of the group. The half group option will increase to accommodate anyone who would like to participate with our total group. Clear as mud?....Great! I have set the poll to close in 4 days to be sure that everyone has time to consider the best option for them. Please find the link below and thanks for your input!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3090219

Thank you Becca for organizing the FE!

 

[wajones2]

Sounds like Disney is giving conflicting information about the HOU shuttles. When we booked the cruise less than 2 weeks ago, I had our TA ask Disney about shuttles. She was told that Disney would operate HOU shuttles through May 15. (We are flying into HOU but out of IAH.) I planned to call our TA tomorrow to have her book the shuttles, so we'll see what information she gets.

If the shuttle stops May 15, call and try to book one-way from HOU to the cruise terminal. It could be trying to book round trip is returning the "not available" to the Disney CM. Doesn't solve getting you back, but you might meet someone on board with a car big enough to drop you off !

 

[wajones2]

Yes, you'll get luggage tags in the mail; no, I don't think you can reserve the items listed from CC in advance.

I just fooled around to see if there are many cabins remaining. There appear to be, at the moment, but I noticed that the boat has reached capacity for children under three (unintentionally, but i included my own party's ages in my search and it said sold out; when i changed the ages of my children to four, cabins magically appeared). Makes sense, since they don't have attendance requirements in Pre-K. But, I did find it very peculiar that they have cut off bookings including babies - I didn't realize they did that. Looks like the splash pad in Mickey's ear will be crowded!

I believe Disney has a limit on the number of kids within each each group. This is to help control number in the nursery & kids club. Our DD will be 2 for less than 24 hours of this cruise & there appears to still be plenty of availability for booking the nursery.