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

[wajones2]

Hi all,
So excited to be joining, I signed us up two days ago and cannot wait to start our vacation! This will be our first time cruising, my son 7, and daughter 5, are being surprised day of trip. They've been asking to "go see the characters" for a while now. So being our first time cruising, and first Disney experience all around, I have a very silly question. Is entrance into the parks included or not? I was looking at the activity page and saw a VIP tour for 2something and another for 3something, then transportation free. In the transportation descriptions it says for people wanting to tour the parks on their own, but I dont see where to get the park tickets. Please clear this up for me
Thanks!

Hi - Welcome aboard. Included is a 1 day park hopper ticket to WDW & complimentary transportation. The transportation must be booked like an excursion, but you should see a complimentary option for all 4 parks. Your cruise key card will be your park ticket!

 

[wajones2]

He's turning 3 on April 22. We showed him videos of the kids' club and he loved it.

That will be so cool to celebrate her 3rd on the cruise!!

I know we can't imagine a better birthday! Whenever we talk about vacation, she says "but I'm not 3 yet"...it is so cute. We have watched the Magic sail away only once on the cruise cam and she was saying hey, wait come back, stop, you forgot me !

 

[militaryears]

Wow! Our FE List has grown to nearly 100 staterooms! You can find the updated list through this link- 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-

Good one (RLOL), I was OMGing because I just placed an order online for a count of 100 items for and FE. I know it is not that important, but just in case something is personalized can you change the spelling of my daughter’s name to Cheyenne.

We received our cruise booklet as well, and my kids were so surprised with an Easter morning phone call from Mickey and Goofy woke them up informing them that they were going on a cruise.

They looked confused when they hung up their phones not sure what was going on, but when they opened their envelops with Disney gift cards and the reservation information they were so surprised and excited.

I am finally able to share my excitement with my kids now, it has been so hard trying to keep it from them.

My kids have had a rough year with their Daddy deployed for the last year and now currently stationed 7hrs away from home. Looking forward to some very much needed R&R time as a family.

Can't wait to meet some of my fellow cruisers.

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?

 

[Crchapm]

Hi Becca. I had emailed you last week, but didn't see our info on the FE spreadsheet. Just in case here is the info again. Thanks.

Stateroom 8590

Steven(29)
Chantel(29)
Eric(17months at time of cruise)

No allergies

 

[Icats]

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?

Our first Disney cruise, we were on our honeymoon and seated with other adults without children. Our second cruise, we had our daughter who had just turned 4. We were seated with a family of 5 who had a daughter that was close in age to ours (plus an older daugther and younger son). If they stick you with people you really don't like, I think you can ask to be moved.

 

[cricket8283]

Thank you so much!! That clarification made me even more excited...if that's even possible! Counting down, it's getting harder to keep it a secret from the kiddos!

 

[Zandersmom]

Hi Becca. I had emailed you last week, but didn't see our info on the FE spreadsheet. Just in case here is the info again. Thanks.

Stateroom 8590

Steven(29)
Chantel(29)
Eric(17months at time of cruise)

No allergies

Thank you for checking back! I apologize that your info and another's from last week had not saved correctly when I added it, though you are all fixed now.

Militaryears-thanks for the correction of Cheyenne's name spelling!

MissAverysMomma-If you're out there, I need your stateroom number and son's name.
Thanks!

 

[thorpedo1015]

Zandersmom,

Do you think we will end up splitting up the FE? It looks like as of now we have 61 kids and 57 adults. That is 118 people. I know some of the adults do not want anything, just for the kids, but seems like a lot of people to bring stuff for.
When we went on the Magic in September we broke it up to 10 staterooms per group and seemed to work out well.

Just curious what everybody's thought was.

Thanks, and cant wait for the cruise.

 

[s232271]

Zandersmom,

Do you think we will end up splitting up the FE? It looks like as of now we have 61 kids and 57 adults. That is 118 people. I know some of the adults do not want anything, just for the kids, but seems like a lot of people to bring stuff for.
When we went on the Magic in September we broke it up to 10 staterooms per group and seemed to work out well.

Just curious what everybody's thought was.

Thanks, and cant wait for the cruise.

This is why I never signed up I was afraid of those numbers!!

 

[Luv2Diz]

Zandersmom,

Do you think we will end up splitting up the FE? It looks like as of now we have 61 kids and 57 adults. That is 118 people. I know some of the adults do not want anything, just for the kids, but seems like a lot of people to bring stuff for.
When we went on the Magic in September we broke it up to 10 staterooms per group and seemed to work out well.

Just curious what everybody's thought was.

Thanks, and cant wait for the cruise.

I was wondering about splitting too.....34 cabins and 118 people is a lot! We are flying from the west coast and have limited luggage space. I would be good with splitting the group in half. I've finally come up with an idea for our FE gifts that I think our fellow cruisers will like. It will be a lot easier to make/pack for 17 cabins instead of 34!

 

[j2o]

We would be fine too, if the group split.

Thanks!

 

[Luv2Diz]

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 arent 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?

Disney does an amazing job matching the tablemates! On our first cruise last year, it was me and DS 24 cruising. I thought there was no way there would be other groups like us. Wrong! Disney seated us with two other couples, each traveling with a son the age of mine. We had a great time!

Second cruise, it was me, DH and DD 28. Again, how can Disney match that? We were seated with a lady cruising with her daughter same age as ours, along with the lady's sister. Logistically it was a good match, but we didn't have a lot in common so dining wasn't as fun as on our first cruise.

I've requested a table for just the 3 of us this time. We won't be bothered if we don't get it, though, because Disney does try to find compatible groups for dining.

 

[NWR]

Will FE items be given to children only? Or do you bring something for the adults too? We only need our kiddos to receive things (not the grown ups), but wanted to make sure to understand how it all works. Thanks!

 

[wajones2]

I'm good with splitting the list too. Is the list open all this week, or is today the deadline?

 

[Zandersmom]

I'm good with splitting the list too. Is the list open all this week, or is today the deadline?

Today is the last day, so we should be close to our current total of 34 rooms. As for splitting, I'm okay with whatever the majority wants. I've already ordered for all 34 rooms, and will probably give to everyone anyway. I have heard that large groups are fun, though I understand about travel space concerns. I have also heard that sometimes groups will split in half, and some people participate in both groups, if they've already created or shopped, whichever the case may be. Let's finish the day and I can try to set up a poll with different options.

 

[Luv2Diz]

I have also heard that sometimes groups will split in half, and some people participate in both groups,

This is how our group did the FE on our last cruise. It was nice to have the option for those who wanted to participate with the whole group, and others who felt that half the group was more manageable. I think it worked well!

 

[mickeydavis]

I was looking at movies coming out. I think Iron Man 3 will be showing on our cruise as it opens May 3rd. Super excited!

 

[csoutherl]

We are ok with the big group for the FE. I also have already purchased items for the majority of the group size.

I suppose it depends on if you are going one "gift" per stateroom or if you are planning on one per person in the room.

 

[Luv2Diz]

Will FE items be given to children only? Or do you bring something for the adults too? We only need our kiddos to receive things (not the grown ups), but wanted to make sure to understand how it all works. Thanks!

As a rule, every cabin who signs up for the FE should expect to both give and receive gifts. I think there are 3 cabins on the list who have adults only. We will all be giving gifts and shouldn't be excluded from receiving gifts because our kids are "adults." We are all kids at heart, especially on a Disney cruise!

 

[SapphireMind]

I'd be fine with splitting the group, not sure if we'd still bring stuff for everyone.....probably, knowing me and my tendency to overdo things